


half a heart

by niamsmuffin



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-04-28 02:52:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 66,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5074639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niamsmuffin/pseuds/niamsmuffin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>hogwarts au.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. one

Niall waved goodbye to his mum once more as he boarded the Hogwarts Express. He felt that she were being overly dramatic about his leaving. After all, this would be his sixth and possibly final year at Hogwarts. There was no reason to be emotional. He would be back for Christmas, anyway.

Niall knew that the ultimate struggle would be to find a seat on the train. Maybe his parents did have a reason to worry, since Niall wasn't the most liked student at Hogwarts. Even the other Hufflepuffs had a problem with him, and Hufflepuffs didn't have a problem with anyone!

He wasn't sure how it started. It might have been the very first year, when Niall was wandering the train, looking equally awestruck and confused. He was a Muggle-born, obviously. Not even the nicest of people would let Niall sit in a seat next to them. He still didn't understand why.

Niall could remember that day vividly. He wandered up and down the train a dozen times before they made it to Hogwarts. All he could think of was why no one wanted to sit next to him. Did he smell? Was he really that ugly? Somewhere deep down, Niall knew none of these things were true, but he still wished they were. It was easier to pin a reason as to why no one wanted to sit with him than just knowing no one wanted him near them.

He could remember though, every time he passed through a particular car, a boy with puppy eyes would be staring at him. Niall remembered feeling resentful of that boy. If he wanted to stare so much, why wouldn't he just invite Niall to sit with him?

Niall knew this year wouldn't be any different than years past. He got to the train early so he could get a seat near the front. He knew that no one else would bother to sit near him. And until he got to Hogwarts, he would be able to keep his Muggle phone and headphones and play his Muggle music to keep himself calm.

Niall had his head back against the seat and his eyes closed. Nothing abnormal from how he usually sat on the train. But this year, there was an abnormality. There was a knock on the door that separated himself from everyone else.

Shocked, he looked at the door to see the brown-eyed boy from the first year looking at him. He knew exactly who it was. Liam Payne, Gryffindor saint, Quidditch Captain. The boy was everything Niall could ever hope to be. Everyone loved him. He never had issues with the teachers. The blond sighed softly.

"Hi," Liam said softly. Niall turned off his music and took out the headphones. "Can my friends and I sit in here with you? All the other rooms are full..." Liam looked uneasy. Niall knew exactly why. No one ever wanted to sit with him."Sure," Niall said softly. He watched as Harry Styles and Zayn Malik trailed in behind Liam. Louis Tomlinson wasn't far behind. Harry and Zayn were two of the most arrogant in Ravenclaw; they seemed to believe that they were superb to everyone because they were so smart. Louis wasn't any better. He was one of the best pranksters in all of Slytherin.

"So, what's your name?" Liam asked shyly, trying to defuse some of the tension. Niall sighed and put his headphones away. He probably wouldn't get to listen anymore on this trip.

"Niall Horan," he answered softly. Louis decided it was time for him to jump into the conversation.

"Are you new here?" Louis asked excitedly. "New people to play tricks on!"

"I've been here since first year," Niall said in the same soft tone. All the boys' faces softened. Louis began trying to apologize, but Niall interrupted him. "I don't blame you for not noticing. I'm not very well-liked around here."

All the boys in front of him seemed to look quite sad. That was when Niall took notice of it, actually; the boys had all sat on the bench across from Niall. They hadn't bothered to sit next to him. It was like he had a disease or something. Niall looked down at his lap and closed his eyes to prevent the tears from falling.

The conversation fell quiet after that. It seemed like the boys felt guilty that they hadn't known Niall was even there for six years, but the blond didn't blame them. They were in different Houses, to start.

Niall fiddled his thumbs until the trolley came around. No matter how the boys were currently treating him, he was too nice to put his headphones back on. Just in case, by some miracle, one of them actually struck up a conversation with him.

When the trolley came around, Niall jumped out of his seat and ran to meet the lady with the trolley. "Anything I can get you, sir?" she asked, gesturing to her cart. Niall nodded and pointed to all of his favorites: particularly the Chocolate Frogs. He got at least five.

As he walked back to his bench, Louis was no longer sitting in front of him. Niall wondered where he had gone, but he was too scared to ask in case they answered that he had left because of Niall himself.

Liam was the next to stand up and go to the trolley. "You want anything, lads?" he asked to his friends.

"Can you get me some Any Flavor Beans?" Harry asked with a pout on his face. "I love them!""I know, Haz," Liam laughed as he grabbed a pack. Then he grabbed himself some Chocolate Frogs and paid for his things.

As Niall ate his frogs and examined his cards, he felt Liam's eyes on him. It nearly brought a blush to his cheeks, but Niall forced it down. It was much too late to show weakness, especially in front of this boy.

Niall finally looked up at him to see Liam staring at him intensely. "Why are you staring?" he asked. "Is there something on my face?"

"You're beautiful," Liam blurted. "I never noticed that before."

"You never noticed me before," Niall said bluntly before he stopped himself. He took one look at Liam's shocked face and put his headphones back on. It was the best way he knew to fade back into the background of things where he belonged.

Niall had his headphones firmly placed on his ears for the rest of the rest of the ride to Hogwarts. He didn't want to talk to any of the other boys. He was a bit jealous, though, because he could hear them talking behind the the buzz of his music. Niall wished he had friends like that.

He got up silently when he saw that it was time to change into his robes. He wiped the chocolate off his chest from the frogs and stood silently with his headphones still on. He could nearly feel the other boys' eyes on his back, but Niall didn't turn around.

When he came back to his bench, Niall sadly had to take his headphones off. He wasn't happy that now he had no way to ignore the other boys. He noticed when he came back in that they had changed into their robes somehow, too. Niall wondered how that had happened, but he didn't ask.

So Niall looked out the window for the remainder of the journey. Maybe Niall was paranoid, but he still felt like the boys were staring at him. He probably was paranoid because why would they have any reason to stare at him? Niall was just Niall; nothing interesting existed in him.

When the train finally stopped, Niall was the first out of his seat so he could escape the seemingly judging looks from the boys in front of him. Desperately, Niall hoped that he wouldn't see them at all this year. (He already knew he was wrong. Liam was the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain and Louis was an infamous prankster. Harry and Zayn were always being mentioned for all their academic achievements.)

He sat in a cart by himself, per usual. Niall stared intensely at the thestrals pulling the cart. He hated that he was one of the few that was able to see them.

Niall actually felt somewhat happy when he reached Hogwarts. Despite how much he wanted to go hide in his dorm (where, somehow, he was even alone there, too) until the term started. But he knew that he needed to attend the feast. His hunger overpowered his urge hide himself away.

He walked down to his usual place at the Hufflepuff table - at the end and alone. Niall didn't actually mind sitting alone. He was always able to get a bit of his homework done. He never had to talk to anyone, which was always a plus.

Today, though, Niall still felt like he had eyes stuck to his back. He was paranoid, is what Niall summed it up to be. He didn't really want to believe that anyone could be possibly looking for him. That is, until someone sat down in the seat in front of him.

"Why'd you run away like that?" Liam asked as he sat down. Niall looked up at him, startled.

"Why are you sitting in front of me?" Niall asked softly. "Don't you have friends at the Gryffindor table? I'm sure they're missing you. Haven't seen you all summer and shit like that."

Liam was looking at Niall with curiosity on his face. "You don't want me to sit with you? You said you didn't have any friends. I figured I would give you a bit of company, is all.""You decided to grace with your presence?" Niall seethed. "Not everyone needs a friend, Liam Payne. Sure, it does get a bit lonely at times, but it's a hell of a lot less dramatic. So if your goal was to make sure that everyone is your friend, you've already lost." Niall wanted to get up and storm off, leaving Liam's shocked look behind him. But because the feast was about to start, he was forced to sit and watch as Liam gathered his thoughts.

"I just wanted to be your friend," Liam finally whispered. "You looked so lonely on the train. No one as pretty as you should be so lonely."

Niall sighed. He wanted to take back all the words he had just said and maybe, just maybe, tell Liam that he could be his friend. But instead, he remained firm. "I'm perfectly fine being lonely. Besides, you'll probably just screw me over like everyone else anyway."

He waited for Liam to get up and walk away. He waited for Liam to spit in his face and call him an asshole for not accepting his friendship. But Liam didn't do anything of those things. Liam sat there and stared at Niall. "What would it take to be your friend?" he asked.

Niall could feel the shocked look spread across his face. "I-I don't know," he finally murmured. "No one's ever wanted to be my friend before."

"I want to be," Liam said, as if it wasn't obvious. "So, what can I do?"-

Liam sat with Niall through the feast, silently though, as if he were thinking about ways to make Niall trust him and assure him that he wasn't like anyone else at Hogwarts. Niall figured he probably was. Liam's friends were staring at them from their appropriate tables. Everyone was looking at Liam as if it were taboo that he were sitting with Niall. In a way, it probably was.

"What if I protected you from all the bullies?" Liam asked at the end of the feast. "What if I made people treat you well?"

Niall shook his head and laughed a little. "I don't think that that's the issue I have, Payne. You could make people treat me well, but they'll never like me. I don't even know why they don't like me."

Liam shrugged. "I still don't know why people don't like you. All I know is that they don't."

Niall just gave him a look. "You can't make people like me, so making them be nice to me is out of the question. Any other suggestions?"

The brunet looked puzzled. "I don't have any other ideas, Niall. I just want to be your friend, that's all."

Niall finally sighed and looked at him. "Why do you want to be my friend so much? You already have so many other friends. It's not like I'm anything special."

Liam frowned. "I told you. You looked so lonely on the train. No one as pretty as you should be so lonely. You deserve a friend, Ni, and I wanna be it."

"You need to stop calling me pretty," Niall whispered. He looked around. By now, there were people leaving the Great Hall. "There are plenty of girls here. You don't want them thinking you're gay or something."

Liam shrugged again and stood up. "I'm bisexual though," he said softly. "I'll see you tomorrow, then? Can I sit with you at breakfast?"

For a moment, Niall bit his lip and considered saying no. But then he looked at Liam's face and saw the hopeful look he held there and sighed. "Yeah, you can sit with me, I guess."

Liam smiled, and Niall would do anything to keep the smile on his face. "I'll see you tomorrow, then." He looked for a second like he would say something else, but Liam didn't. Instead, he turned and left the Great Hall.

Niall groaned and laid his head down on the table. Why had he just accepted Liam's offer? Did this mean he was Liam's friend? That made Niall want to groan again. Being Liam's friend seemed to be a full time job.

Finally, everyone had left the Great Hall. Niall rose to his feet and left himself. He headed down toward the kitchen so he could enter the Hufflepuff dorms. Niall didn't really know why he decided to leave after everyone else had. He would still have to walk through the Hufflepuff common room, past everyone.

Lucky for him, he walked in about the time another Hufflepuff was going in, so he learned the password. Niall had no plan has to how he was expected to pass through the common room unnoticed, but he decided that he needed to give it a try.

As soon as he stepped in, though, all eyes were drawn to him. "Aye, look who it is!" A guy from Niall's year sneered. "It's the little faggot!"

Niall's eyes watered as he shoved through the crowd. He heard more names being thrown his way. Things that he didn't want to hear. Niall was nearly running through the crowd now. He pushed his way to the stairs that led to his dorm. Tears were running down his face.

He threw open the door to his dorm room and sighed loudly. It was the same as every other dorm in all of Hogwarts; there were five beds in the room, and Niall was the only one who occupied it. He had no idea how the others had gotten out of rooming with Niall, but it had been like this since first year.

Niall curled into a ball on his bed and sighed. When would things get any better?

-

The next morning, Niall seriously didn't feel like getting out of bed. He knew that he had three days before classes actually started, but he still didn't feel like getting out of bed. He didn't really want to face the other Hufflepuffs and Liam.

"Oh, look, there's the cry baby!" Someone said as Niall entered the common room. It was nearly empty at the moment, so Niall just hurried himself out the door and down the Great Hall.

He sat himself in his usual spot and began to fill up his plate with all his favorite breakfast foods. Niall tried, he really did, not to look over at the Gryffindor table to see if Liam was over there with his friends. Finally, he spared a glance, and yeah, Liam was sitting with his own friends as if Niall never existed.

And maybe it was meant to be that way.

But still, Niall had to close his eyes to prevent tears from welling up. He wanted to cry. In fact, that might be just what he would do.

Niall ate his food as fast as he could. He hadn't even put that much on his plate; just a croissant, some eggs, and a few pieces of bacon.

Liam still hadn't noticed him. It was like everything from yesterday had been a joke. Maybe it had been. Maybe this was the way things were meant to be. Niall was meant to be alone, and that was it.

Once he had finished his food, Niall rushed back up to his dorm. He would have no reason to leave besides meals until classes started. He would get his schedule at breakfast the next morning, and he would have a few days to prepare himself for socialization again.

When he was back alone in his dorm, Niall pulled his iPod and headphones out from his bag. He figured he might as well waste away the day with music.

Niall had probably been listening to his music for an hour straight before a knock came from his door. Curiously, he removed his headphones and walked to the door. Liam stood behind it.

"What do you want?" Niall groaned. He leaned against the doorframe and tried not to let Liam see into his empty room. "How else can you disappoint me, Liam Payne?"

Liam looked hurt, but Niall didn't really care. Regardless of whether or not he wanted to admit it, Liam not eating breakfast with him as he had promised hurt. "I just wanted to come see if you wanted to hang out," he said softly. "We have a few days until term starts, and I just wanted to hang out with you."

Niall sighed. "As much as I would love to go hang out under a tree or whatever it is you populars do, I'd rather stay in here and do all my Muggle things. I tend to get insulted when I try to associate with you purebloods." He tried not to sound harsh, but Niall was sure he did. He was bitter about how everyone treated him.

"We could stay in here, if you'd like," Liam said softly. "You could show me all your Muggle things. I wanted to ask on the train, but I wasn't sure you'd let me hold one of them."

"You aren't going to leave me alone, are you?" Niall asked defeatedly. Liam shook his head with a small smile on his face. "Come in, then. You can sit on my bed, I guess."

"Who else rooms with you?" Liam asked curiously. The small smile that had made it's way onto Niall's face dropped.

"No one. I've been here alone since first year. It isn't that bad, really. I can listen to my music and do all my studying up here..." he trailed off.

Liam suddenly looked like he wanted to cheer Niall up. "So can you show me all your Muggle things now? I've always wanted to see Muggle things!"

Niall tried not to laugh, he really did, but a small giggle still made it's way between Niall's lips. The way Liam's face softened made Niall want to laugh again, but he didn't.

"Which one do you want to look at first?" Niall asked softly. He got all of his devices out from his trunk and laid them across his bed.

"That one!" Liam pointed excitedly to Niall's laptop. "What is it?"

"It's called a laptop computer," Niall explained. "Laptop, because it fits in your lap. Computer, because it's a type of technology. Not something you would really understand, I guess."

"I don't," Liam said with that excited smile on his face. "Show me... that one!" He pointed to Niall's cell phone.

"That's my favorite," the blond admitted. "Basically, it makes voice calls. Like, you can talk to people without being near them and they can talk back. And it sends text messages, which is like owl post but about a million times faster."

Liam's face was covered in awe. "I want one of those! They sound cool!"

Niall laughed. "I wouldn't get your hopes up too much. Most pure-bloods never get cell phones or laptops or anything."

Liam pouted, and the blond took note of the fact that it was a beautiful look. "I kinda want one, though. They look cool."

"But they can be little shits sometimes. They can make you crash and burn and rethink your entire existence." Niall looked toward the bathroom and sighed at the not-so-fond memories that that particular room held. "They aren't as amazing as they sound."

"Did you have friends before you found out that you're a wizard?" Liam asked suddenly. "Or have you always been like this?"

"Like what?" Niall asked suspiciously. "But, to answer your question, no I didn't have friends. I've always been the odd one out. I don't really know what having a friend feels like."

"You're so reserved," Liam commented. "So cruel and withdrawn. I can kind of tell that you've never had a friend. I want to be your friend."

"I still don't know how I feel about this friend thing. How do I know you won't just forget about me like you did at breakfast this morning?" Niall didn't mean to bring it up, but it slipped off his tongue. Now it was too late to take it back.

"So withdrawn," Liam laughed bitterly. "I honestly didn't mean to forget about you at breakfast this morning. My friends caught me and decided that since I blew them off for 'some fag'-" Liam didn't get to finish.

"Get out," Niall demanded. "Get out of my room and don't ever talk to me again!"

Liam paled. "What did I do?" he asked quietly. "Was it the fag thing? That wasn't me-"

"It was you! You just said it!" Niall screamed. "You didn't have to quote it, but you did! So get out of my room!"

Niall waited. He waited, and maybe even hoped, for Liam to protest again. He didn't know what the brunet could say that would make up for it, but he still wanted it to happen.

It didn't. Liam got off of Niall's bed and left the room. Niall was left in pieces.


	2. two

Niall stayed by himself till the term began. He ate most of the meals alone (the ones he didn't eat alone, he skipped), and he stayed in his room as much as possible. However, he was soon forced to come out of his room to attend classes.

He clutched his schedule in his hand and nearly tripped over his robes as he exited the room. Niall was practically shaking due to his anxiety. The start of classes were never fun, but the way the past three days had been, Niall knew it was going to be a rough year.

And to make things even better, his first class of the day was with Gryffindor. That made Niall want to cry. In fact, he did tear up a little at the chance of seeing Liam. On one hand, he did want to see Liam. On the other, he would rather kill himself than see the brunet.

With a brave face, Niall forced himself out of his room and through the common room. He wished desperately that he had an invisibility cloak, so he could make himself invisible and not have to face all the judging eyes of Hogwarts.

He kept his head down as he walked through the Hufflepuff common room. There were few people in the common room this early. Niall hope that they were still sleeping, or maybe they were already at breakfast.

Niall hurried down the corridors to the Great Hall for breakfast. He kept his head down and hoped that no one would notice he was there.

"Niall!" A voice from the end of the hall yelled. The blond's head shot up. No one ever called his name. It was Louis. "Slow down! I want to talk!"

Niall turned around slowly to see Louis jogging down the hall to talk to him. "Hi," Niall said softly. "What do you want?"

"How did you upset Liam?" Louis asked bluntly. "He came down to the Slytherin dungeon last night, and he never does that. He tried to say that he was okay, but I didn't believe him. So, how did you upset him?"

"I didn't upset him," Niall grumbled. "He upset me. Called me a faggot, basically." Niall shuttered. "I hate that word."

Louis frowned. "Liam's too nice to do that. Are you sure he said that?"

"Yes!" Niall snapped. He then looked at Louis' startled face. "Look, I'm sorry. I'd really rather go eat breakfast by myself now. I don't like people and they don't like me, so if you'd just let me go." He pushed past Louis and continued to the Great Hall."You should really let Liam be your friend, you know!" Louis called. "He really likes you!" Niall scoffed and kept walking.

He sat down at the Hufflepuff table alone and immediately began to take his share of food. His conversation with Louis had dulled his appetite. Niall just wanted to eat breakfast and really not have to go to class today.

Niall could see Liam from the place he was sitting, but he was certain that Liam couldn't see him. The brunet didn't look upset to Niall. He looked happy. He was laughing along with Louis, Harry, and Zayn.

Somehow, this brought tears to his eyes. Somewhere deep down, maybe Niall actually wanted Liam to apologize. Maybe he wanted Liam to regret what he said.

He really didn't feel like eating. Niall just wanted to go back to his room and maybe think about classes another day, which was bad. He had never dreaded classes at Hogwarts before.

Niall nibbled on his bacon half heartedly and tried to watch Liam without being obvious. He watched as the brunet laughed along with something Louis said. He looked so happy, it actually made Niall's heart ache.

He finished all the food that was on his plate and looked up at the clock that hung above the teachers' table. Niall noticed that he had enough time to head back to his room and grab his things for his first class of the day: Potions.

Niall actually rather liked Potions, even though he wasn't the best at it. He jogged back through the hallway to the common room to his room. Niall had left his Potions things on his bed, so all he needed to do was grab it and head down to the dungeons.

He took his things into his hands and looked around his safe haven once more. Well, it wasn't much of a safe haven now, since Liam knew where it was. Niall still wanted to stay in his room until Christmas break, so he could go home and be far away from everything.

Niall left his bedroom and sneaked through the completely empty common room. With his head down, he continued to the dungeons. He sighed softly as he remembered that Liam would more than likely be in this class. Liam was an expert at Potions, as well as everything else. It always escaped Niall as to why he wasn't Head Boy as well.

He knew he was the first one to class when he had to open the door. Professor Slughorn always had his door open for classes, meaning that Niall had beat the professor to class as well. Out of habit, Niall double checked his schedule to make sure he was actually supposed to be there.

When he saw that he was supposed to be in Potions, Niall smiled softly and found himself a seat at the back of the class. He began to set up his things and wait on Professor Slughorn to come in from breakfast so he would have someone to talk to.

"Niall, my boy!" Professor Slughorn greeted as he walked into the room. "Would you like to help me with the seating chart for this term? I normally like to let everyone sit anywhere, but things have been getting out of hand lately."

"Of course, Professor." Niall made his way from his seat up to Slughorn's desk. "You know the students better than I do, sir. Where do you suggest we put them?"

Slughorn just shrugged and looked down at his list of students. "Do you want anyone to sit in the back with you? I know you prefer to work alone, but I think you and Payne would make a good duo."

Niall's face when pale, and he tried to stutter out the fact that he just couldn't partner with Liam, but his mouth remained shut.

"So, Payne in the back with you, then! Styles and Malik can pair together, per usual. They are quite the duo themselves..." Slughorn went on, listing pairs who would make a great team, and by the time class started, the professor had made the entire seating chart with little input from Niall.

Students started filing in, and Niall made his way back to his place at the farthest table back. He tried to slouch down in his seat and hope that no one would see him. As students walked in, Slughorn was yelling out seat assignments and pointing them in the right direction.

Niall nearly started crying as he watched Liam walk into the room. He remembered the way his mum had taught him: inhale, count to three, exhale. Repeat. He couldn't afford to freak out. At least, not in his first class of the day.

"Payne!" Slughorn yelled. "In the back with Niall!" Niall heard the professor chuckle a bit. "If you can find him, that is."

Niall could spot a few people looking around wondering who the hell "Niall" even was, and he saw a few of his "fellow" Hufflepuffs roll their eyes. He tried not to feel hurt at that.

"Niall," Liam breathed as he sat down. "I am so sorry, Niall. I honestly didn't mean to call you that. I was just telling a story and it slipped out." He took Niall's hand in his own. "I'm sorry."

Niall didn't want to forgive him. He wanted to shove Liam out of his life and keep him there. Niall had always been good without friends, so why did he need any now? But still, the blond nodded. "It's okay," he whispered. "I overreacted. You were just telling a story." Niall wasn't sure if he was really accepting Liam's apology or if he was reassuring himself.

"You didn't overreact." Liam sighed beside him. "I just shouldn't have said it. Do you forgive me, though? I'd still really like to be your friend, if you'd let me."

Niall felt himself nodding. "I forgive you. You know I'm still not sure about the whole friend thing though. I don't know what it's like to have friends."

"I promise I'll be a good friend," Liam whispered. Slughorn had begun class, but Liam still wanted to whisper to Niall. That made the blond's heart warm a little bit. "I'll show you what it's like to be wanted.

Niall couldn't exactly protest that.

-

Turns out, Liam had nearly every class with Niall, and he also tried to sit next to the blond in every one of them. The brunet even sat with him at lunch.

"How have classes been so far?" Liam asked softly. Niall was watching him fill his plate with food. How he ate so much and still stayed so fit was beginning to worry Niall. The older boy's plate was so full that it nearly had food falling off the sides.

"They've been alright, I guess. It's the first day of classes, so I guess it isn't exactly time to begin judging them." Niall shrugged. He began to place food on his own plate, but he didn't even fully cover the bottom. He could practically feel Liam frowning at him.

"You aren't going to eat anymore?" Liam asked softly. Niall shrugged again and shook his head. "You should. It's not good for you to be eating only that much. You're already so skinny."

"I'll eat what I want," Niall said softly. He began eating his food and tried not to pay attention to the way he could feel Liam's eyes on him. "I'm okay, Liam," he reassured. "I just don't eat a lot. It's fine."

Liam still looked concerned, but he dropped the subject. Niall picked at his food and still avoided eating everything that was on his plate. After a few minutes, the younger boy dropped his fork down onto his plate and decided to watch Liam eat instead.

"Can I see your schedule for the afternoon?" Liam asked with a mouth full of food. "I just want to see if we'll have all the same classes again."Niall handed over his schedule, and he wasn't sure if he should feel happy or upset that the rest of his classes for the day were with Liam. He did feel sort of happy, though. He hoped it was because of Liam.

"I hate Charms," Liam groaned. He laid his head down on the table. "Why am I still taking it? I don't know why I even decided to take it."

Niall felt himself laughing at Liam. "I don't know why you'd take it either. Are you any good at it? I'm shit at it." The blond laughed a little again.

A smile spread across Liam's face at the sound of Niall's laugh. Niall's smile slid from his face, and he looked back at his plate, frowning a bit. "How much more time do we have before the next class starts?" he asked softly.

"Like a half hour," Liam answered with a frown. "Please don't leave, though. We could go out by the lake, if you want. Just don't go back to your room." The older boy's voice was begging.

Niall stood from the table and sighed. "Are you finished eating?" he asked. Liam nodded with a smile on his face and stood up with him.

"To the lake?" Liam asked for confirmation.

"To the lake," Niall agreed.

-

Niall wasn't exactly sure how they ended up like this. With ten minutes left till Charms, he and Liam were out laying underneath a tree beside the lake. Liam was laying flat on his back with one arm underneath his head. He had his other arm spread out, and Niall's head was laying on it. The blond had an arm through over Liam's chest. Niall found it a bit hard to believe that he could ever be comfortable with someone like this, but he was.

"We need to get up," Liam murmured. "It's nearly time for class. Do you have your Charms stuff with you?"

Niall nodded. "I don't want to, though. Why can't we just skip?" he whined.

"First back," Liam said softly. "It'd be best not to skip." He waited for Niall to stand from the ground before he did himself.

For a brief second, Niall wanted to reach out and take Liam's hand. He knew that it would warm him. It seemed like Liam was always warm.

And then Liam held his hand out for Niall to take, and the blond couldn't resist. He took Liam's hand in his own and immediately felt warmth rush over him. This was how Niall wanted to stay for the rest of his life. With Liam. And that scared him.

Niall and Liam walked hand in hand back to the castle. The blond had a giddy smile on his face that he wasn't exactly sure where it came from. He hoped it was coming from Liam, though.

Somehow, Liam wasn't ashamed to walk all the way to Charms holding Niall's hand. He could feel people staring, and Niall knew that they were getting disgusted looks, but Liam didn't seem to care. He just kept looking back at Niall with that happy little grin on his face.

Liam sat next to him in Charms, too. Niall tried his best to focus on class, but with Liam's presence beside him, it was a bit hard to focus. About halfway through class, Liam leaned over and whispered in his ear, "We should have just ditched like you said. It'd be a lot better than listening to Flitwick drone on."

Niall giggled a bit and Liam moved back to his seat, satisfied with the blond's reaction. It was a few minutes later when Liam leaned over and whispered again, "Do you want to come back out to the lake with me after dinner? We could lay out and look at the stars."

"Mr Payne!" Professor Flitwick squeaked. Niall moved down in his seat when he saw that all eyes were on him and Liam. He could feel people glaring into his back. "Do you have something you'd like to share with the class?"

Liam shook his head no, making Flitwick huff. "First day and you're already getting into trouble, Mr Payne. I don't like it!" And then the small man went back to teaching as if nothing had happened.

The rest of the class was grumpy and obviously not amused at how much Liam seemed to like Niall. The blond sank a little lower in his seat and tried to avoid everyone, including Liam.

Liam didn't lean over and whisper anymore. He didn't have that same smile on his face. Niall felt like crying.

When Charms was over, Niall rushed out of the room without waiting for Liam. He didn't want to brunet to get mad at him. He feared that Liam would be angry that he got in trouble in Charms for him.

And it seemed that Liam really didn't care much at the moment, for he didn't call after Niall as the boy squeezed his way through the hallways. He could hear several mean words being thrown his way, but nothing compared to what he will be called when people hear about the Liam incident.Niall made his way to the Hufflepuff common room and back to his room to grab his things for his last class of the day, Transfiguration. For an odd moment, he still wished that maybe Liam would sit by him.

He didn't. Liam sat all the way across the room, by another Gryffindor kid and as far away from Niall as possible. The blond felt a cold stab to his chest and wondered why he was reacting so suddenly. He had only known Liam a day, after all. He shouldn't be getting attached already.

Niall tried to turn off his thoughts about Liam and focus on Professor Mcgonagall, for she had already begun the lesson without bothering to see if everyone was paying attention. It was ride or die in Mcgonagall's class, and it always had been.

After Transfiguration, Niall raced back to his dorm so he could hide until dinner. It was only an hour till dinner, so Niall began on some of his Charms homework to occupy himself. It worked to distract him for a moment, but not very long.

He got through his Charms and Potions reading before dinner. His head already hurt, and all Niall really wanted was to go to bed. But he knew that he still needed to get up and go to dinner and try to forget the day's stress.

Dinner was one of the only times students didn't have to wear their school robes, so Niall put on his favorite sweats that made him look like he was swimming in material and decided that they were probably his best bet when hiding from Liam.

Niall walked through the halls with his fellow Hufflepuffs to the Great Hall. It was nearly as if he were invisible; people were shoving him out of the way and trying to walk through him as if he wasn't there.

He sat at the edge of the table, per usual, and waited for the food to appear. Niall could hear Mcgonagall talking about something important, but Niall wasn't listening. He was watching Liam at the Gryffindor table. He was surrounded by Louis, Harry, and Zayn, and he looked pleasantly happy. Happier than he had looked when he was with Niall.

For a brief second, Niall wondered if it was all just a game. Maybe, just maybe, Liam had been dared to make friends with Niall. To make the boy open up. But he immediately pushed the thought out of his mind, for the idea was to sad. Niall really hoped that wasn't the case.

This time, Niall barely filled his plate at all. He suddenly didn't feel as hungry as he originally had. He didn't want to make himself feel even more sick.

Once Niall had finished his plate, he left the Great Hall. Naturally, he was the first one to leave and felt like all eyes were on him. Niall hated that feeling. He knew that it was highly unlikely for anyone to be watching him, but it still felt as if one person was.He walked back to his room and began thinking about how exactly he was supposed to Transfigure his chest. Niall supposed he should probably take everything out of it in case he was unable to turn it back.

"Niall!" A voice called for him as Niall walked down the hall. He groaned aloud as he realized that he knew the voice.

"Liam, why won't you just leave me alone? You've already proved your stupid point. You want to be friends with me, but you can't handle being seen with me. I get it," Niall said coldly. "Now leave me alone."

Liam stood shocked for a minute, and Niall just stared at him. He knew that he was supposed to be storming away angrily, but he was waiting for Liam to say something.

"I'm sorry," Liam said softly. "But I do want to be your friend. I'm so stupid though. It's like every time someone sees me with you, I freeze up. I don't want to be like that, Niall. Show me how not to be like that."

"I can't," Niall said in a determined tone. He then straightened his jaw and left back for his room.


	3. three

The first week of school passed awfully quickly once Liam had decided to leave Niall alone. However, since they did sit beside each other in most of their classes, Niall could occasionally feel Liam staring at him. It made the blond wince every time he noticed.

Somewhere deep down, Niall did want Liam to speak up. He wanted to let Liam back in and to actually have a friend because for the day he hung out with liam, it actually felt nice.

He was currently sitting in Charms writing down some quick notes and trying to review Charms he had already learned. Niall had a horrible memory; he was useless in trying to remember spells.

"Mr Horan!" Professor Flitwick called out. "Are you paying attention?"

Niall turned beat red when he realized that he had been staring off into space for the past few minutes. "No sir," Niall muttered. He looked down at his table. "I'm sorry. I'll pay attention."

Professor Flitwick looked satisfied with this answer, and he continued teaching. Niall felt like melting into a puddle of embarrassment. Was there a spell for that?

Sometime after Charms, Niall found himself not alone at lunch. Harry Styles was sitting in front of him. "You need to make up with Liam," Harry said as soon as he sat down.

Niall laughed bitterly. "I need to make up with Liam? Did you not hear what Liam did to me?"

"Liam made a mistake, Niall, and he knows he did. That's why you need to make up with him. He's been a right mess since last week." Harry had a frown on his face as he began to fill his plate.

"I wish you people would let me stay mad at him," Niall grumbled. "He messed up. It's good he knows he messed up, but what he still doesn't quite get is that he can't just walk around saying he wants to be my friend and then ignore me when someone catches him being my friend. That isn't how this is going to work." Niall paused for a moment. "Tell him that."

Harry sighed defeatedly. "Look, if you can think about forgiving him, meet him out at the lake after dinner. Liam's a good person, Niall. It's just being popular gets to his head sometimes."

Niall just grumbled and went to putting food on his own plate. "I'm sure it does."

-

But still, Niall found himself wandering out to the lake after dinner. He wasn't exactly sure why. Maybe he just wanted to hear Liam apologize. Maybe he had a thing for self inflicted pain.

No one was there when he arrived. For a brief second, Niall wondered if he had been set up. He leaned his head back against a tree and tried his best to wait patiently. He hummed the first tune that came to his head and tapped his fingers along with the beat.

"Niall?" A quiet voice asked eventually. Niall opened his eyes to see Liam sitting down next to him. "Do you wanna talk?"

"I'm here, aren't I?" Niall said with a shrug. "What do you want, Liam?"

"I want to apologize. Properly. I shouldn't be such an ass to you, Niall. If I want to be your friend, I need to be your friend all the time, and I get that now. Please, can I be your friend again? Can I make up for all my stupidness?"

Niall felt like banging his head against the tree. Liam said that he understood, but Niall wasn't completely sure he did. "So you won't bail whenever someone sees you hanging out with me?" he asked skeptically.

"Never again," Liam confirmed. He then looked up at the sky and watched it begin to get dark. "I think it's time we go inside. Are you coming with me?"

Niall nodded and stood up with Liam. "I guess if we have to." Liam held out his hand for Niall to hold, and the younger boy's heart fluttered a bit when he took it.

They walked back to the castle hand in hand. Niall's heart was pounding the entire time, and he vaguely wondered if Liam could hear it. The brunet seemed so calm about the fact that they were holding hands, as if it were something completely normal that he did with all of his friends. Maybe he did.

The few people that were out in the corridors gave Niall odd looks. They weren't even looking at Liam. They stopped at the point where they would have to go different ways. Niall turned to the left to head back to his dorm, but Liam grabbed his arm quickly.

"Will you come to my Quidditch game?" Liam blurted. "It's not until the end of October, but still, will you come? It'd mean a lot of if you were there."

Niall gave him a shocked look. "Y-You really want me there? I've never been to a Quidditch match before." Saying his thoughts out loud seemed to make them seem even more stupid. He was in his sixth year and had never been to a Quidditch match? Pathetic.

"Of course I want you there," Liam said softly. "We're friends, right?" "I-I guess," Niall stuttered. Sadly, he moved his hand from Liam's and sighed. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow." Suddenly Liam leaned in and placed a very quick kiss on Niall's cheek. "Bye Niall." With that, Liam turned around and walked toward the stairway and headed toward the Gryffindor dorms.

Niall was left to stand in the hall with his mouth gaping. Liam had just kissed him? He was confused. Liam was confusing him.

-

The blond was still half asleep the next morning at breakfast. He had already eaten and was currently laying his head down on the table to try and get more sleep. Someone sat down in front of him.

"Still tired, babe?" the person asked. Niall looked up to see Liam in front of him filling a plate. He groaned.

"I feel exhausted, and it's only the second week of school. How am I supposed to make it through the entire year?" Niall whimpered against the table. "I kinda want to go home. I've never felt like this before."

Niall heard the plate clang against the table as Liam set it down, and then a hand was placed on his arm. "Are you okay?" Liam asked softly. "Like, really? It isn't natural for you to be this stressed right now."

The blond sat up and shrugged. "I feel okay. I really don't have any reason to be stressed. I think I'm just overwhelmed."

"Why?" Liam asked softly.

"I think it has something to do with you," Niall answered. When he saw the shocked look on Liam's face, he quickly backtracked. "No, no! It's not bad. It's just overwhelming. I've never had a friend before. I've never even talked to you, yet all the sudden you decide to sit with me on the train and be my friend and say all the wrong things. You've sent me on this rollercoaster and it's only been a week. And I'm sort of thankful for that."

Liam was giving him a look. "Then, you're welcome, I guess?" he said in a questioning tone. Niall stifled a giggle and looked at Liam's plate.

"You need to finish eating," the blond pointed out. "We don't have a lot of time left for breakfast.""Have you eaten?" Liam asked. He looked down at the empty space where Niall's plate should have been. His stomach rumbled a bit, but he still looked at Liam and nodded. "Tell me the truth."

"I ate a little," Niall admitted.

"You should eat more," Liam pointed out. Suddenly, the boy leaned over and grabbed another plate off the table. He filled it with a few pieces of french toast, waffles, and a piece of bacon. "Here. Eat this, please."

Liam didn't look back up again, so Niall assumed he was supposed to begin eating. He ate small bites and looked through his History of Magic textbook. He didn't know exactly why he was searching through his textbook, but he assumed it probably had something to do with the fact that Liam was watching him.

"I'm finished," Niall said after his plate was clean. "What should we do now? It's not time for class yet, is it?"

"What do you have?" Liam asked as he pushed his plate away from his body. "I think I've got History of Magic."

"Did someone purposely set our schedules the exact same?" Niall asked in disbelief. "I do too. In fact, I've had every single class with you every day. You don't think that's a little bit weird?"

Liam just shrugged. "Maybe it is a little odd. But Harry and Louis are in most of the same classes, so I don't really think it's that odd. Maybe we'll have a different class sometime."

"I doubt it," Niall snorted. "Schedules have already come out, right? They aren't going to change."

The older boy sighed. "I'm kinda glad we have all the same classes. I like hanging out with you."

Niall looked back at the clock and saw that it was nearly time for him and Liam to get to class. "Shall we go to class then?" he asked, standing up.

Liam stood up beside him and lifted his hand up for Niall to take. The blond looked down so Liam would be unable to see the blush that rose up to his cheeks. Niall took his hand and walked with him to the History of Magic classroom.

The ghost of Professor Binns was already standing (or rather, floating) at the front of the classroom. Niall and Liam took their rightful places at their seats, and Niall opened up his notebook to write a few notes.

Liam threw a note on his desk just as other students began making their way into the classroom. Shall we have lunch outside today? We can grab some food and go sit under our tree?

They had another moment before class would officially begin, so Niall picked up his quill and wrote out an answer as quickly as possible. Isn't that against the rules though? I don't want you to pull me into trouble, Mr Payne.

Professor Binns clapped his ghostly hands just as Niall slid the note back onto Liam's desk. Niall immediately slid down into his seat and began writing down nearly everything Binns said.

He could feel Liam's eyes on him as he wrote. Niall tried not to look over at him. He needed to focus on class and not on Liam.

After class, though, Liam caught his arm. "What do you have next? I have a free period," Liam said as he moved his hand down Niall's arm. They held hands for a moment before Liam dropped them.

"I've got Herbology," Niall grinned. "See? The world does keep us separate sometimes."

"But I wanted to grab a bit of homework and go sit outside before it gets too cool. Since you won't get lunch with me outside, that is." Liam pouted. Niall felt like reaching up on his tiptoes and kissing the cute little pout off of Liam's face.

But he didn't.

Instead, Niall just laughed a little and tucked himself into Liam's arms as they exited the castle. "I'm not breaking the rules with you, Liam Payne. No matter how cute you look."

"So you think I'm cute?" Liam asked cheekily. "I'll remember that."

Niall didn't even bother to try and correct himself. He did think Liam was kind of cute, but he wasn't supposed to make the older boy aware that he thought that. Instead, he just sighed and hoped that maybe Liam wouldn't look into it too deeply.

"Why exactly are you walking me out to Herbology?" Niall asked without really thinking about it. "You could be back in your room, working on homework or napping or something."

"I will later," Liam said dismissively. "I could stand walking a bit. I don't really get to work out as much as I like during the term."

"You work out?" Niall blurted. "That sounded kinda rude, sorry."

Liam laughed a bit. "It's fine. Of course I work out! You think I look like this just from riding on a broom all the time?"

"But how to purebloods work out?" the blond asked curiously. "Obviously you don't go to the gym." They had finally stopped outside the greenhouse Niall was supposed to have classes in. He knew that he would have to go in eventually, but he still wanted to stand outside and talk to Liam, regardless of how many people were watching.

"What's a gym?" Liam asked. He had his head cocked to the side, and for a moment he looked intensely like a puppy. Niall fought the urge to coo.

"It's a place... where you work out." Niall waved his hand. "Muggle things. How do you work out?"

"I lift weights. I run a lot. Any way I can, really. But I don't get to do much while I'm at school." Liam watched as yet another person walked into the greenhouse and sighed. "I guess it's time for you to go in, isn't it?"

"It is," Niall said in the same sad tone. "I'll see you later?" He really wanted to kiss Liam's cheek.

"Yeah," Liam smiled softly, as if he knew something Niall didn't. "Bye, Niall."

Niall caught Liam's arm just as he turned away. He leaned up and kissed Liam's cheek softly. "Goodbye, Liam." With that, he turned away and walked into the greenhouse.

He just hoped that Liam was standing behind him with a goofy smile on his face.

-

Niall wasn't really sure how he made it through Herbology without just sprinting out of the room to go find Liam. He really, really just wanted to run to Liam and see just what he thought about the fact that Niall had kissed him. Niall knew what he thought about the kiss. His lips were still tingling.

Niall had to face it. He liked Liam. That was the end of things. He knew that he had no chance with Liam; therefore, he had to just bit everything behind him and pretend not to like Liam. Easier said than done.Liam was already waiting for Niall at lunch. As it turns out, they had two different classes. Their Herbology classes and free periods were switched. Niall didn't know how it had happened, or how he hadn't noticed, but Liam was definitely not around during his free period.

So Niall decided that he would just avoid everyone. He went back to his room pulled out some of his homework that was due in a few days. Niall didn't exactly feel like doing his homework, but he had nothing better to do since Liam was in class.

He had a small worksheet from Herbology that he needed to fill out, so he began that first. Then he moved on to his essay for Potions and worked out that until it was lunch time.

The hallways, per usual, were filled with people trying to push their way to the Great Hall. It was times like these Niall wished he could take his Apparation test. He reminded himself that he couldn't apparate inside Hogwarts, so it wouldn't do any good. He was still forced to push his way through the crowd and try not to get run over.

Liam was waiting for him at the Hufflepuff table, but he wasn't alone. Louis, Harry, and Zayn were beside him. Niall's breath caught in his throat for a moment, but he continued his way to his table.

"Hi," he greeted softly. He tried to direct his greeting toward Liam because he wasn't completely sure what to say to the other three.

"Hi, Niall!" Louis said excitedly. "How have your classes been so far? I haven't seen you since last week!"

Harry elbowed Louis slightly. "Calm down, Lou. Let him adjust a bit."

"Sorry!" Louis said in the same happy tone. He was still looking more at Niall then he was Harry. "Liam told us to be friends with you, so I'm being friends! How is course work?"

Niall shrugged and looked at Louis. "It's probably the same as yours. Potions is probably going to kill me. Other than that, I guess it's okay. How is yours?"

Louis laughed a bit. "I don't take Potions. I was hopeless at it when I had to take it, so I decided that I just wouldn't. I wanted to work at St Mungo's, but without Potions, that's out. But other than that, I think everything is okay."

"I still don't know what I want to do." Niall shrugged. "But I'm taking enough classes so I have two or three options."

"That's good," Louis hummed. Niall watched as the boys all began eating their food, and he realized that he had yet to fix his plate."Eat, Niall," Liam reminded. Niall sighed and fixed his own plate. He really didn't feel like eating, but he knew that Liam would sit there with him for as long as needed to make sure Niall ate.

"Liam, what classes do we have today?" Niall asked through a mouthful of food. "I think I left my schedule back in my room."

Harry spoke up suddenly. "Who do you room with, Niall? I know a couple of Hufflepuffs kids. They're pretty cool."

"No one," the blond mumbled. "The other Hufflepuffs don't really, er, like me, I guess." Niall looked down at his plate. He pushed some food around his plate and listened to Zayn sigh.

"Well, mate, the only Hufflepuffs I know are assholes. But you're good, you know? You're what a Hufflepuff should be," Zayn said honestly. Niall looked up at him with pink cheeks.

"Thanks, Zayn," he said softly.

"I don't honestly know what classes we have today," Liam said after a long pause. "I've never been good at memorizing schedules."

"It's true!" Louis exclaimed. "In first year, he went to Transfiguration instead of Charms three weeks in a row. It was a riot." Niall giggled a bit over this, but he quickly stopped when he saw the four boys staring at him oddly.

"What?" Niall asked, insecurity flooding through his voice.

"Nothing," Liam answered. "You just... giggled."

"Is there something wrong with giggling?" Niall asked defensively.

"N-No!" Liam shouted. "Giggling is really cute. You're cute." Niall blushed at Liam's words.

"I'm cute?" he asked softly.

"Really cute," Liam confirmed. "Really fucking cute."


	4. four

Hogwarts was now a month into the term, and Niall was stressed. He didn't really know why he was stressed because his classes were going great and his homework pile had yet to grow past four assignments, but Niall felt like ripping his hair out.

Maybe it was because of Liam, who was constantly by his side. He tried really hard not to blame Liam because he found it nice to have a friend who cared whether or not he was eating well or sleeping an appropriate amount each night, but having a friend was taxing. And having a small crush on said friend was even worse.

Niall sat in his room alone mulling over his latest Potions homework. It was yet another essay, and he was beginning to feel like this was some sort of writing class. Why was it necessary to have so many essays? Everyone could just read the textbook to figure out how things worked. They didn't need to write essays.

He really just wanted to go hang out with Liam and see what the older boy was doing. Niall knew that he was probably working on his own Potions essay, or maybe Liam was out sitting with Harry, Louis, and Zayn. Either way, Niall knew that Liam probably wasn't thinking about him.

Niall finally sighed and put his quill down. He would not be able to finish this essay anytime soon if he kept thinking of Liam. He needed to stop for the day and maybe work on something else.

It was Saturday, so it wasn't as if he could really do anything besides work on his homework. Niall was scared to leave his room. When had things come to this? When had it come to Niall being afraid to leave his own room?

He wanted Liam. Niall didn't want to want Liam, but he did. He wanted Liam to come hug him and work on his homework with him. He wished that he could just call him or something, but Liam didn't have a Muggle phone. Niall would give anything to be able to call Liam and make the boy come to his door.

Niall stood from his bed and made his way to the door of his room. He hesitated for a moment before pushing his door open and pulling the hood of his hoodie over his head. Niall tried to ignore someone's shouting. "Aye, look! The fag finally emerged."

The few people that were hanging around in the common room laughed a bit before going back to whatever they were doing. Niall was thankful that no one pushed it any further. He quickly left the common room and wandered aimlessly down the corridors. He hoped that he could possibly run into Liam.

Niall found himself down at the Quidditch field watching the Gryffindors practice. He wasn't sure how he found himself at the field, but Liam was out there flying around and yelling corrections at his teammates. (He was also sweaty. Yummy.)

He had a small notebook in his lap. Niall had a small itch to write this down. He felt like he needed to write everything involving Liam down. But for the moment, Niall settled for opening the notebook and drawing.

Before Niall was even sure of what he was drawing, the image became Liam. Liam with his cute button nose and pouty lips. His strong jawline and soft quiff that Niall wanted to run his hands through.

Liam was Captain and Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and the longer Niall watched, the more he understood why Liam help those two positions. He was such a natural on a broom. The way he moved was the way of a leader.

Niall never knew that Quidditch could be so interesting, but it surely was when Liam was playing. He still didn't understand all the rules, but maybe he could get Liam to teach him. He wanted to at least know what was happening when he attended the Quidditch match.

He finished his portrait of Liam and admired it for a second. Niall felt like he needed to crumple up the picture and throw it away because it was just too intimate for anyone to see. Or maybe Niall could just keep it and frame it and look at it whenever he pleased.

Niall ripped the page out of his notebook, folded it up, and stuffed it in his pocket. He then turned his attention back to the Quidditch game. His eyes found Liam, and Niall watched as Liam landed down on the pitch and their eyes connected.

He watched a smile grow on Liam's face, and suddenly Niall really hoped that he was the cause of that smile. Liam waved for Niall to come down the bleachers to the first row so they could talk, but Niall shook his head. He pointed down to Liam's mates and how they were staring.

Niall mouthed the word sorry and shrugged. He would stay where he was for the time being, and maybe after practice he would come down and talk to Liam. If all of his teammates disappeared fairly quickly, that is.

He resisted the urge to open his notebook and draw Liam again. It would be best if he didn't leave any hints that Liam had an effect over him. Liam could too easily find the pictures Niall was drawing. He needed to hide them before the older boy could find them.

Niall turned his eyes back to the practice and watched the Gryffindors finish. Liam waved off the rest of the team and stayed on the field to wait for Niall to come down from his place on the bleachers. When the blond finally did, Liam still had the blinding smile on his face."Hey," Liam said with a happy sigh. "How did you know I was down here? I was going to come to your room after practice was finished."

"I just started walking," Niall shrugged, "and my feet led me here. I guess I was right."

"You were." Liam nodded. "Is it lunch time yet? I'm starving."

Niall laughed a bit. "I bet you are after a practice like that. I think it's nearly lunch time, but I'm not sure. It wasn't when I left. Are you going to change?"

"I will," Liam said with another smile. "Will you come hang out outside the changing rooms? I don't want to leave you out here by yourself."

"I'll come stand outside," Niall said softly. "I don't really wanna go in there. Gryffindors aren't very fond of me either."

"I don't see why no one likes you," Liam mumbled as he helped Niall down from the bleachers. "You've never done anything. All you've ever done is try not to get hurt."

"I'm small and weak, that's why." Niall shrugged. Liam was gripping his hand tightly. "That's the type of person people like to take their anger out on, right?" They reached the changing rooms, and Niall let go of Liam's hand. "Go change. I'll be here when you get back, and we can go get lunch."

Liam nodded and looked at Niall longingly before heading into the changing rooms. The blond slid down the side of the building and sat on the ground to wait for Liam. Shakily, he pushed his hand into his pocket and fumbled to find the picture of Liam that he had drawn earlier. Niall looked at it for a moment before he pulled his wand out of his pocket. He felt like setting the picture aflame, but Niall thought better of it and put the picture back in his pocket.

Several team members exited the changing rooms without a glance at Niall, which made the blond fairly happy. He wondered absentmindedly how long it took Liam to change. Maybe he just got caught up with some of his friends. Niall could handle Liam being late if that was his reason.

Ten minutes went by and Niall was still sitting outside the changing rooms. He was tempted to go in and see exactly what was taking Liam so long, but he wouldn't push it. Liam had to come out eventually, right?

It had been twenty minutes since Liam had gone into the changing rooms when Niall finally stood up. As much as he wanted to wait for Liam, twenty minutes was far too long. He huffed and stomped back to the castle angrily. He couldn't even bring himself to go to the Great Hall for lunch, so Niall went back to his room.He set about doing his homework once again.

-

Niall didn't leave his room until he only had one homework assignment left and it was time for dinner. Despite how much Niall really didn't want to face anyone, he still got off his bed and headed down to the Great Hall.

Surprisingly, dinner passed without anyone bothering Niall. He sat alone at his corner of the Hufflepuff table, and he thought that it was better this way. Maybe Niall was just meant to be alone.

When he got back to his room, Niall pulled out a piece of notebook paper and a pen from his bag of Muggle things and began to write a letter back to his family. He explained about everything that had happened in the past month. Niall wrote about Liam and all the different emotions the brunet caused him. He told his mum about his crush on Liam. Finally, Niall asked what he should do about his crush and the up and down friendship with Liam. He promised that he was alright and tucked the letter into an envelop.

Niall left his room once more to go up to the Owlery to find his owl. Quinton liked to stay with the other owls rather than stay in Niall's room with him. Even an owl finds Niall's room lonely. The blond felt like snorting.

He found Quinton easily in the Owlery. Quinton was the only solid black owl up there. Niall climbed up to where his owl was perched. "Hey, Q," Niall greeted softly. He stuck his finger up so the owl could nibble on it a bit, and then he set to work on tying the letter around the owl's leg. "Take this home, okay? And don't leave until they give you a response. This is an important letter."

As soon as Niall had the letter secure, Quinton flew off back to Niall's home. Now the blond was truly alone.

-

Niall woke up late the next morning. He rushed to put on his robes and brush his teeth before heading down to breakfast. He planned on having breakfast alone, but Louis was sitting across from Niall's usual spot at the Hufflepuff table. Niall sighed and sat in front of him.

"So," Louis said as he munched on a piece of bacon, "I have decided that no matter how asshole-ish or stupid Liam is being, I'm still going to be your friend. You deserve a friend, and I like you."

Niall smiled and began eating his own food. "Thank you," he said softly. "I've always wanted a friend that won't bail on me every day or so."

Louis shrugged. "I don't know what's up with Liam lately. You've changed him. He shouldn't bail on you, though. I've told him that a hundred times now."

"Thanks again, Lou," Niall said. He then went back to eating his food until Louis spoke up.

"What class do you have next? I wanna know if we have any classes together." Louis had finished eating by now, which led Niall to believe that he had been waiting a while for the blond to come to breakfast.

"I don't even know," Niall laughed a bit. "I just don't want to see Liam. He's in pretty much all of my classes, though, so that's kind of impossible."

"I've got Transfiguration next," Louis said, trying to make Niall feel better, "and I haven't done any of the homework. Mcgonagall is probably going to kill me, but at least I kind of know how to do the spells."

This time, Niall laughed harder than he ever had in his life. "That's a riot, mate. Mcgonagall will kill you, though. You know how she gets when people aren't putting in their fair share of the work."

The two laughed for another moment before Louis looked up at the clock. "It's time for first class, mate. Do you remember what you have?"

Niall sighed and pulled his schedule out of his pocket. "Transfiguration," he said happily. "Well then. Shall we go, Lou?"

"We shall," Louis said with a sly smile. The pair stood up, and Louis linked his arm with Niall's. For once, the blond didn't feel odd as he walked down the hall. He felt comfortable with Louis because no one would ever dare mess with Louis Tomlinson.

Louis even sat next to Niall in Transfiguration so Liam wouldn't. The blond was grateful. He watched Liam's face carefully as the older boy saw that Louis was sitting next to him. He didn't look upset. Niall's heart fell.

Liam didn't care. Liam had let him down once again. But Louis was here now, and Louis would stick by his side. Hopefully.

The rest of day passed by fairly smoothly. In the classes they had together, Liam sat next to Niall. He didn't utter a word. Every now and again Niall would glance over at Liam to see if the older boy was looking at him. He never was.Niall was steadily falling back to his old self. He hated it. He hated the sad feeling he got when he wasn't with Liam.

The next day did not start out as simple. Niall had not slept at all that night, so he was already a walking nightmare. The bags under his eyes were obvious.

He left his room early to go to breakfast. Niall had no other reason to stay there. Liam was sitting at the Hufflepuff table, waiting for Niall. The blond felt like ramming his head in with a brick.

"Why are you here?" Niall asked softly. "Have you not done enough damage? This is the third time you've done this, Liam. You're running out of chances."

Liam sighed softly. "I'm sorry. I know I'm running out of chances. I know I'm a fucking idiot. I don't really expect you to forgive me. But here I am, begging for forgiveness once again." The brunet didn't have a plate in front of him. Niall put one in front of him and sighed.

"What happened, Liam? You were fine, and then you ditched me. You didn't even tell me what happened. You didn't stay to explain," Niall said softly.

"I'm not even sure what it was, really. One of the lads was talking in the changing rooms about how he had seen you at practice. They started making jokes about you. They were saying such disgusting things I can't even bring myself to repeat them. And after that, I couldn't bring myself to walk out there to meet you." Liam took one look at Niall's face and back tracked. "Not because I believe them! No, I'll never believe them.

"I just couldn't believe I'd heard those things. After that, I didn't want to face you. So I left out the other door of the changing room and went to lunch. I'm really sorry, Niall. But I know it still doesn't excuse things."

"You're right," Niall confirmed. "Hearing shit about me doesn't excuse the fact that you have treated me like shit time and time again. But, because I seem to have this incredible urge to do so, I forgive you. But you treat me horribly one more time, Liam Payne, and I swear you won't ever see me again."

Liam laughed a little bit. "God, I don't know why you keep coming back to me, Niall Horan, but I think I like it. I'll really try not to screw up this time."

"You better not," Niall warned. "Eventually I'm going to get my shit together and stop forgiving you."

"I won't mess up this time!" Liam promised. "Will you meet me out by the lake after lunch? I believe we both have a free period then?"

Niall hummed a bit before answering. "I'll think about it. But chances are I'll probably be out there with you."

"Good," Liam said softly. "Please meet me out there. I want to spend time with you without being an asshole."

"We'll see," Niall answered. "I'll probably be there."

-

Liam didn't eat lunch with Niall. For a brief second, the blond wondered why. Then, he just decided that he would go out after lunch and see if he was by the lake. Niall ate quickly and then left for the lake.

Niall walked out to the tree he and Liam had once spent an evening under. He found Liam there, lying back on a blanket and staring up at the leaves.

"I was wondering why you weren't at lunch," Niall said softly. "Have you been out here the entire time?"

Liam hummed a bit. "I have. I was waiting for you. Wanted you to know that I'd wait for you."

"I'm glad you decided to wait for me," Niall said happily. Niall laid down on Liam's arm and sighed. "It's nice out here."

 

The older boy laughed a bit. "That's why I'm always trying to get you out here with me. I like it by the lake. Sometimes you can even see the squid."

Niall giggled a bit. "I don't know why I don't come out here more." He stayed quiet for a moment before sighing again. "You're comfy."

"Niall?" Liam asked softly after another few moments. "I have a question for you."

"It is?" the blond asked.

"Do you like me?" Liam's voice was quiet. "Not like me as a friend, but as, like," his voice got even quieter, "a boyfriend. I really like you in that way, and I really hope that you could possibly feel the same way."

"Liam," Niall said, catching the boy's attention. "I'm going to be honest with you. I do like you like that. But if you keep acting like you do, there's no chance of there ever being an us."Niall felt Liam nod. "So I have to prove myself is what you're saying?"

"Basically," the blond answered. "Do you want to try and prove yourself or would you like to quit now?"

The older boy laughed a little. "I think I'll try and prove myself worthy of your love. Can this be considered my first attempt?" Niall wondered what exactly he meant, but then Liam wrapped the arm Niall was laying on around the boy and pulled him into his chest.

"You're warm," Niall hummed. "This can most definitely be considered your first attempt. I like this attempt. You've got me hooked already, Liam Payne."

Liam placed a soft kiss on the top of the blond's head. "That was my plan all along, Niall Horan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave me some comments? i do love reading them!


	5. five

It was the week before Christmas break, and it was far too cold for Niall to be outside. He wasn't even completely sure why he was outside, but he was sitting underneath his and Liam's tree with a Transfiguration paper in his hands.

Liam was off at his final practice for the last Quidditch game of the semester. The match was to take place later that night, and Niall had promised time and time again that he would be there. Liam loved when Niall would come to his matches. He would force the younger boy to wear a Quidditch jersey that was similar to his own. Liam tended to go a bit mad after his matches.

(Niall loved it.)

His half finished paper was still clutched in his hands. Niall decided that, since the paper wasn't due until the later in the week, he would just finish for the day and go watch Liam's practice.

Niall was now quite familiar with the way to the Quidditch field and the sport itself. Liam had been shocked when he found out his boyfriend had no idea how the sport was even played. He fixed that problem within a week.

He sat in his usual spot in the bleachers and tried his best not to let Liam see him. Of course the older boy was probably expecting him, but Niall still wanted him to be surprised.

Niall was never able to sit and watch a Quidditch practice, so his mind when back to his Transfiguration paper. It was still in his bag. He pulled it out and began working once again.

The practice was over before Niall had even realized, and Niall was shivering. He suddenly wished that he had brought a blanket or a jacket or something. Maybe he could convince Liam to come nap with him before the match. That sounded nice.

Niall made his way down the bleachers and followed the team to the changing rooms. He sat in his usual spot. He packed the essay back into his bag and waited for Liam to come out. Niall leaned his head back against the wall to wait.

"Hey, babe," Liam said softly. "I didn't see you out there. It's freezing, you shouldn't have come."

"Wanted to see you," Niall mumbled as he stood up. "How would you feel for a little pre-match nap with me? Please don't say you have work to do because I might cry if you do. I'm so cold."

"I'm all caught up with my work," Liam promised with a laugh. "I think a pre-match nap sounds wonderful. You should have brought a blanket or something out, though. You are freezing."

"And you're all sweaty," Niall giggled. He leaned over and hugged his boyfriend tightly. "Do you want to go back to your room or mine?"

"Yours is always quieter," Liam pointed out. "And no one tries to just waltz into your room. Harry has a habit of just coming into mine whenever he wants."

"Mine, then," Niall decided. He stayed glued to Liam's side the entire walk back to the castle because the older boy was very warm and slightly sweaty and just pure heaven. He had no idea how he could have possibly love Liam anymore than he already did.

"What are you thinking about, babe?" Liam asked softly. Niall noticed that they were standing in front of the castle now, and the older boy's head was tucked into his neck. Liam's warm breath was blowing across his neck, and Niall moaned softly.

"You," Niall murmured. "And how much I'm glad that I decided to give you a chance."

"I'm glad you gave me a chance too." Liam placed a small kiss to Niall's neck and moved away to open the door. "You make me unbelievably happy, you know? I don't know what I'm going to do over Christmas."

Niall pouted. "Please don't remind me," he groaned. "I can't even text you or anything because you don't have a phone. It's frustrating."

"We're just going to have to make the most of our last day, aren't we?" Liam laughed. He started to slid his hands lower on Niall's body, making the blond squeal a bit.

"Calm down, doggy. The train doesn't leave for another week. You can keep it in your pants until then, right?" Niall moved away from Liam's wandering hands slightly. "Let's go to my room and you can let your hands wander, alright? I'd rather not let everyone see how much you touch my ass."

Ever since Niall and Liam had officially gotten together, the comments against Niall had nearly stopped. They still happened occasionally when the blond was alone, but when Liam was around, the comments stopped all together. He still received judging looks, but Niall didn't care when he was wrapped in Liam's arms.

Niall practically collapsed on his bed when he and Liam got back to his own room. Liam laughed when the blond fell face first on his bed. "Get over here," Niall mumbled. "You're comfy and I'm cold."

Liam crawled onto the bed and laid next to his boyfriend. "Little spoon," he mumbled as he pulled Niall into his chest. "You're still cold. Get under the blankets and we'll nap for a bit, okay? Do you have your phone so we can know when to wake up?"

"It's sitting somewhere. I'll set an alarm if you'll find it for me," Niall said through a yawn. "But don't get out of bed unless you have to." Liam laughed and got out of bed to search for the phone.

"Found it!" Liam called as he picked up the phone. He laid back down on the bed and handed the phone off to Niall. "I have to be down at the field a half hour before the game starts. So set the alarm for five, maybe? That way we have a half hour to get ready and you can stay in your room for another half hour if you want."

Niall set the alarm then threw his phone onto the floor. "Cuddle me," he mumbled as he tucked himself into Liam's chest. "Wrap your arms around me and don't ever let me go."

"I love how cuddly you get when you're tired," Liam whispered into his boyfriend's neck. "Go to sleep, baby. I'll be right here when you wake up." He began humming a song that Niall had showed him time and time before. Niall fell asleep to Liam's soft voice.

-

Niall really didn't know what time it was. All he knew was that there was a constant beeping coming from the floor and Liam's arms were still around him. His boyfriend groaned in his ear.

"Shut it off!" Liam complained. "I'd do it myself if I knew how. Please, babe, shut it off!"

Niall groaned himself and climbed out of bed. "I'll do it," he said as he reached for his phone. He quickly shut off the alarm and laid back down in the bed. "You need to get a shower before you go down for the game," Niall whispered. "I know how much you like to be clean before getting sweaty. I need to find your jersey. Where did you throw it last time?"

Liam laughed and climbed out of bed. "You don't want to shower with me?" he asked cheekily.

Niall groaned and sat up. "As long as you don't try anything, I will. Just a shower, nothing else. Sitting in the bleachers with a sore bum isn't fun."

"Can I at least get a pre-game blowjob?" Liam whined. Niall laughed and began to strip off his clothes.

"I'll meet you in the shower," Niall said as he placed a kiss on Liam's cheek. "We'll see about that blowjob."

Niall was already in the shower and had the water warmed to Liam's favorite temperature by the time his boyfriend stepped in. Liam had a cheekily smile on his face as he leaned down and kissed the blond hard.

"Calm down, doggy," Niall giggled. He turned back around so the water was on his front and sighed. "Wash my hair and then we'll see about that blowjob."

"You know me so well," Liam grinned. He took his shampoo in his hands and slowly began to massage the shampoo into Niall's head. "Don't be afraid to show your pleasure, love. Might as well get me all excited before-"

Niall gasped and hit him in the chest. "Calm down, you horny dog. I'll think twice about that blowjob if you don't shut up and wash my hair."

Liam laughed and continued to massage the shampoo into Niall's hair. "You're just so pretty. I can't help it."

When all the shampoo was washed out of Niall's hair, he made the older boy sit down so he could wash his hair. "Do whatever it is you do to make yourself hard," Niall said in a slightly grumpy voice. "I'll wash your hair and make you happy."

Liam grinned as Niall's hands made their way into his hair. "How much longer do we have?" Liam asked softly.

"I don't have a clock," Niall giggled a bit. "But I assume we have some time. Do you not want the blowjob after all?"

Liam looked down at his hands and fumbled with his fingers. "Not if you don't want to. I don't want to pressure you or anything."

Niall leaned down and gave his boyfriend a kiss. "I don't mind, love. It's your day, after all. Whatever you want, as long as you win your game. Now stand up and wash the shampoo out of your hair."

-

Niall was sitting in jersey of Liam's that was far too big and had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He was still shivering. Niall had always been one to be cold even in the middle of summer. This was the moment things came back to bite him.

Gryffindor was winning by quite a bit, but the Snitch was still yet to be caught. Niall was getting impatient. However, he had promised Liam that he wouldn't leave early this time, so Niall just continued to shiver and grumble at a volume no one could hear.

Niall had a tendency to sit in the Gryffindor section of the bleachers with Louis by his side, but the Slytherin boy had decided to sit with Harry and Zayn (both of whom were not so fond of Niall). He hated having to sit alone. Liam had made him crave human interaction in a way that he had never had before.

He sighed heavily and pulled the blanket tighter around himself. Liam saved yet another goal, and Niall cheered for him internally. He didn't want to draw attention to himself by shouting. Niall had already had a paper cup thrown at his head just from sitting there.

Liam was doing great. He had saved so many goals already, and he continued to look out into the crowd with a big smile on his face. Every time he did this, Niall would smile right back, as if Liam could see him.

Niall could see the Snitch. It was flying just above the Gryffindor Seeker's head. The blond wanted to scream out that it was right there. Why hadn't she seen it yet? Everyone else appeared to be frustrated with the Seeker as well. Other Gryffindors were beginning to yell.

The cold air was seeping through Niall's blanket, and he was wishing desperately that the game would just end. Niall could see that even Liam, who was normally extremely calm for his teammates, was becoming angry. The older boy looked like he was ready to yell out that the Snitch was right above her head.

Finally the Seeker looked up and saw the Snitch buzzing around her head. With a lightning fast move, she reached out and grabbed the Snitch before it could move away once more. The Gryffindor side of the bleachers immediately burst into tears - Niall included.

The team immediately grounded themselves and rushed the Seeker, lifting her up into the air and cheering. People began to rush down from the bleachers, but Niall stayed in his place. He always did. He would wait for Liam to come and get him, and then they would head back to the Gryffindor common room. Niall would hide in a corner and watch Liam celebrate. That was how they did things.

After the entire team and most of the students had made their way off the field, Liam came back for Niall. "I couldn't believe how long it took her to figure out that the Snitch was buzzing around her head!" Liam babbled. "But did you see that one goal I saved? I almost fell off my broom!"

"I watched all of it, love," Niall said with a laugh. He pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders. "You did great."

"I'm glad that you came. I do a lot better when you're there." Liam grinned and leaned down to give Niall a kiss. The younger boy giggled.

"You play the same whether I'm there or not, silly," Niall reminded him. "Don't try to make me out to be some superhero. You always play well."

"I was trying to be cute," Liam said with a pout. They were back at the door of the castle now. Niall reached to open the door for himself, but Liam knocked his hand out of the way and opened the door for them both.

"I can open the door for myself, babe," Niall huffed, but he still walked through the open door. "Are we going up to yours, then? I think your bed is more comfortable than mine."

"What do you want to do, love?" the older boy asked as he placed a small kiss on Niall's neck. "I know that you don't particularly like going back to Gryffindor and celebrating, so we don't have to."

"No," Niall said immediately. "I know how you like to celebrate, so we're going up to Gryffindor. I'll just go up to your room and wait for you."

"Will you be waiting naked?" Liam asked cheekily. Niall had to shove his boyfriend off a bit, for the older boy was getting handsy and they were still in the public eye. No matter how much he loved Liam, Niall still would not let the older boy feel him up.

"No, LiLi, I won't." Niall giggled. "There are chances of someone walking in, and I'd rather no one besides you see me naked."

"That's true," Liam said in surrender. "But are you sure you want to wait up in my room? You'll be incredibly bored."

riend's cheek. "You need to go celebrate. You just won which means you're one step closer to winning the Quidditch Cup. Just celebrate. I'll be fine."

Liam just sighed and nodded. Niall knew that the older boy really didn't want to leave him alone, but the blond was pushing him to. They entered the Gryffindor common room and the crowd immediately rushed Liam, lifting up their Quidditch captain and carrying him away.

Niall smiled as he watched his boyfriend disappear into the crowd. Lucky for him, everyone had cleared away from the stairs up to the boys' rooms. He quickly made his exit and opened that no one had seen him there.

Liam was another one of the very few people that his own room. His room was all red and gold and had the four post bed. The blond could lay down and sleep for ages on it. So that was what he did.

He rummaged through Liam's chest at the foot of his bed and found a Muggle sweatshirt. Niall pulled the sweatshirt over his head and sighed as he caught Liam's perfume. Niall wanted to bathe in Liam's scent. He smiled happily and pulled the blankets of Liam's bed over his body. If he had to wait for Liam, he could at least nap while doing it.

-

Niall woke up to a loud banging at the foot of the bed and a fair amount of swearing. He sat up in the bed and rubbed at his eyes like a toddler. Through the dark, he could see a figure bouncing around holding their foot and swearing softly.

"Liam?" Niall mumbled softly. "Is that you?"

"It's me, baby," Liam mumbled. "I just stubbed the hell out of my toe. Did I wake you? I was trying to be quiet, but my chest was closer than I thought."

"I was sleeping," Niall said as laid his head back down on the pillow. "Hurry and get back in the bed, please. You make everything warm."

Liam didn't respond so Niall assumed that the older boy was changing into something more comfortable. The bed dipped on the side opposite to Niall's and the blond immediately rolled over into Liam's chest.

"How was the celebration?" Niall asked softly. He had his head tucked into Liam's neck and sighed against the warm skin. "Did you have fun? You kinda smell like booze."

Liam laughed softly. "One of the Muggle borns usually sneaks in some booze. I only had a drink or two, if you're wondering."

"I don't care," Niall said with a soft shrug. "It's not really my place to care. As long as you don't get so drunk you decide that I'm not good enough for you anymore." He wrapped his arm a little tighter over Liam's waist.

"I don't think that will ever happen, baby," Liam whispered. He placed a kiss on the top of Niall's head. "Go to sleep, my love. I'll be here when you wake up."

-

Niall woke up the next morning still tucked in Liam's arms. The older boy was snoring in his ear. The blond felt his stomach rumble, but no matter how hungry he was, Niall refused to move. Liam was too warm.

He wasn't sure how much longer he laid there with Liam sleeping in front of him, but finally the older boy woke up. "Niall?" Liam asked sleepily. His arms tightened around the young boy. "You awake, baby?"

"I've been awake for a while." Niall nodded. "Do you want to go to breakfast or stay here?"

"We might as well go," Liam said softly. He moved his arms away from Niall and sat up on the bed. "You look cute," he noted. "I like it when you wear my clothes."

Niall just blushed and looked down at his fingers. "Let's go to breakfast, he decided."

-

It was the day Christmas break began, and Niall was not happy.

He was wearing another one of Liam's sweatshirts that reached down to mid thigh and covered his hands, and Liam thought he was being absolutely adorable as he stomped around making sure that he had everything.

"Is it so bad that I don't want to leave you?" Niall whined. He sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands. "We won't even get to talk because you don't have a phone. I'm going to miss you."

"We can write," Liam promised. He sat down next to Niall and wrapped his arms around the younger boy. "We can write twice a day. It won't be that bad, baby."

"It won't be the same." Niall pouted. He looked at the time and sighed. "You need to go get your things. I'll meet you out at the train."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Liam asked with a frown. Niall could tell his boyfriend was concerned, but he just shrugged.

"Go get your things," Niall told him with a kiss. "I'll be fine. As long as you write me twice a day."

Liam laughed and gave Niall another kiss before leaving. The blond wiped a tear from his eye and left too.


	6. six

Niall lost Liam at the train station.

The older boy had sat with him on the train along with Louis, Harry, and Zayn. Niall pretended not to notice that Louis and Harry were sitting a bit closer than normal, but he made a mental note to ask Louis about it as soon as he saw him next. But Liam had made sure to hold Niall close while they were on the train and promise the younger boy that they would write constantly.

As soon as the train stopped, Liam stood up and completely disappeared. Niall tried not to get sad about it, as he figured that his boyfriend was probably extremely happy to see his family again. He grabbed his own luggage and was about to exit the train when Louis stopped him.

"Don't get too sad," Louis said softly. "He's like this every year. Liam's a real family man. He misses his sisters like crazy, whether he'll admit it or not."

"Thanks, Lou," Niall said in a grateful voice. He gave his friend a quick hug before pulling away. "I'll see you after Christmas."

Niall made his way off the train and tried his best not to search through the crowd to find Liam. Instead, he pulled out his phone and checked to see if his parents had texted him their location.

He was attacked in a hug before he had even properly looked up from his phone. "Sorry for running off," Liam's voice mumbled into his hair. "I'll see you after Christmas, okay? I promise I'll write you every chance I get." Niall didn't even get a chance to tell Liam anything before the older boy had placed a kiss on his cheek and was running off again.

"Niall!" This time it was his brother calling his name. Greg was pushing his way through the thinning crowd to make his way to his brother. Niall tried his best to push his cart through the crowd so he could meet Greg too, but he gave up when his cart was too heavy.

Greg pulled him into a hug as soon as he caught up to his brother. "I missed you! How have you been, little bro? Met any nice lads yet?"

Niall laughed a bit and pulled away from his brother. "I'll explain everything later. I'm sorry that my letters haven't been all that frequent. But I promise I'll explain everything once we get home, okay? Can you help me with my stuff? This cart is ridiculously heavy."

Greg nodded and moved Niall out of the way so he could push the cart. Subconsciously, Niall looked around the crowd once more to find Liam. He didn't see his boyfriend, but he did see Louis surrounded by four other girls and holding a baby boy in his arms. The blond smiled and continued to follow his brother toward his parents.

"Niall!" his mother called as soon as they met eyes. Niall's brother was forgotten as the blond ran toward his mum with open arms.

"I missed you so much," Niall mumbled as he wrapped his arms around his mum. "I didn't actually realize how much I missed you."

"I always miss you," Maura admitted. She hugged her boy a bit tighter before pulling away so she could see his face. "Why haven't you been writing so often? I don't know what's been going on with you!"

"I'll explain it all later, Mum. I just want to get home. We can talk over dinner, I promise," NIall assured. "I just want to go home and sleep in my own bed and mope a little."

Maura laughed and moved her arms from Niall's arms. "You better have a good explanation as to why you want to mope," she said in a warning tone. "I hate seeing my babies mope. Now, let's go home. Your father couldn't be assed to move from in front of the couch. Said there was a Derby match on that he cared about."

"Derby's playing today?" Niall said excitedly. "Can we get home quickly? I want to watch the end of the match!"

Greg laughed from somewhere behind them and wrapped an arm around his little brother's shoulder. "You heard him, Mum! Let's go home and watch some Derby!"

The crowd had thinned a bit since Niall had looked around last, but he could clearly see Harry's curly head an inch or so above everyone else's. He wanted to at least tell him goodbye before they left, so Niall took a deep breath and broke away from his family.

"Hey, Harry?" Niall says softly as he walks up to the family. The curly haired lad is still laughing when he looks over at the blond. "I just wanted to tell you Merry Christmas, mate. Have a good one."

Harry looked surprised, but he nodded anyway. "You too, mate. Happy Christmas."

Niall smiled a bit and walked back to his family. "Sorry," he apologized to his mum. "We can go now. I don't see anyone else that I need to tell goodbye." By anyone else, he meant Liam. Niall tried not to look as sad as he felt.

"C'mon, baby bro," Greg said with a smile. "I wanna get home and watch that Derby game too. You can always write your friends or fly on that fancy broomstick or whatever you wizards do. I want to go eat."

That was Niall's brother, always trying to make a joke of Niall. The blond knew Greg didn't do it on purpose. Greg was just like that. He was always trying to make a joke of things. Even if it was his own brother.

Niall finished packing his things into the back of his mum's car and sighed. He wanted more than anything to run into the train station and search desperately for Liam. But he knew that Liam was probably gone with his family by now. His boyfriend wouldn't be there no matter how hard Niall hoped.

As a courtesy, Greg let Niall sit in the front seat on the way back to their home. The Horans had moved from Ireland to the outskirts of London after Niall had gotten his Hogwarts letter. He knew that it had been hard for his family to just pick up everything and move. But his family had done it anyway, and Niall was thankful.

He wasn't sure whether or not he had just zoned out or had actually fallen asleep, but the next thing Niall was aware of, they were pulling into the driveway of the Horan household. Niall smiled at the familiar house. It was good to be home.

-

His mother made shepard's pie for dinner, and it hit Niall that he was really home and would be there for the next two weeks. He still wasn't sure how he felt about being home. His entire family was quietly eating and occasionally sneaking glances at him, and Niall knew that it was time for him to explain.

"I have friends," Niall blurted suddenly. "I'm in my sixth year, and I finally have friends. It's a bit loser-ish, isn't it?" HIs family didn't say anything, so Niall continued with his story. "Liam Payne brought his friends to sit with me on the train. Liam Payne, Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. Sitting with me!

"I don't even know how to explain what happened next. Liam and I were friends, then we weren't. Friends, then not. Then his friend Louis and I became friends. And somehow, Liam and I ended up," his voice got softer, "boyfriends?"

Greg spat out his drink all over Niall. Classic. "You got a boyfriend?" he asked excitedly. "My little brother got himself a beau!"

Everyone looked at Niall with shocked expressions. "Niall got a boyfriend!" Bobby said, lifting his glass. His mother was looking at him with a proud smile. It was safe to say that everyone accepted Liam, whether they actually knew him or not.

"So when can we meet him?" Maura asked excitedly. "I want to meet his boy as soon as possible!"

"Yeah!" Greg agreed. "Can we meet him over break? That would be nice!"

Niall felt like banging his head on the table. Why didn't he realize that this would happen? He knew that his parents would want to meet Liam as soon as possible, but he couldn't do it. Niall couldn't let his family meet Liam. He didn't even what he was supposed to write his boyfriend at this point.

"I-I don't think so," Niall stuttered softly. "He's with his family over break. I'm not sure if he'd be willing to come all the way out here to meet you guys. He's quite the family man," he said, using Louis's own words. Niall was upset that there were still things he didn't know about Liam; his family was one of them.

"Could you still write him and ask?" Maura suggested eagerly. "It'd be nice if we could meet him."

"I'll write him tonight, Mum," Niall promised. "But no promises, okay? He probably won't come out."

His family nodded somewhat in sync, and they were all quiet for the rest of the meal.

-

After his shower, Niall sat down at his desk with a pen in his hand and a piece of paper in front of him. He was trying to write a letter to Liam, but so far nothing had come out. He had no idea what he was supposed to tell the older boy. That he missed him like hell? That was true. Finally, he set to writing whatever came to mind.

> Liam,
> 
> Hi. How are you? I'm back home now. It turns out I missed my family more than I originally thought. (I'm sorry. I've never written letters before, so I sound terribly awkward.) Did you miss your family? Louis says you did, and that that's why you ran off without giving me a proper goodbye.
> 
> Anyway, I told my parents about us. I hope that was alright? They said they really want to meet you, and I promised I would at least ask if you would like to come by my house for a day or two. You really don't have to. I'm only mentioning it because my parents told me to.
> 
> I do really miss you. Can you try to write me back as soon as possible? Sorry if that sounds a bit clingy.
> 
> Niall .xx

It was short, Niall knew. Quinton was sitting on Niall's window seal, as if he were waiting for the boy to go ahead and give him the letter.

"Alright, Quinton, can you take this to Liam? He lives in Wolverhampton. I'm sorry I can't give you more information, but yeah. Liam. Wolverhampton. Do you need a picture?" The owl gave him a blank look. Niall sighed and pulled out his phone to show his owl a picture of Liam. "This is Liam. Can you find him?"

Niall finished tying the letter onto Quinton's leg and watched as the owl flew off. There went his main source of comfort at home. He decided it was probably time to go to bed.

-

When Niall woke up the next morning, it was only because Quinton was pecking at his arm. He groaned and rolled over a bit but stopped when he realized why his owl was pecking him. He had an answer from Liam.

Niall sat up in the bed and nearly yanked the letter off Quinton's leg. He reminded himself to be gentle, though, and untied the letter from his owl. "Thanks, Q," he mumbled. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and unrolled the letter.

> Niall,
> 
> Hi. I sound quite awkward on letters too, if that makes you feel any better. I've never really had to write anyone before. I'm happy to be with my family, too. I missed my sisters a lot. You've been talking to Louis about me? Could have just done it yourself, love. I'll tell you anything you want to know.
> 
> I miss you too. I wish I could have stayed to give you a proper goodbye filled with lots of kisses, but I did get a pick distracted when I saw my sisters. I managed to sneak away and give you a hug, but sadly, that was all. I'll have to ask my mum about me coming to your house for a night. You aren't that far away, are you?
> 
> Your owl was looking a little down, so I fed him and gave him a bit of water. I hope that was alright! What's his name, by the way?
> 
> You aren't clingy at all, baby. I hope I'll get to see you soon. Miss you more than you'll ever know.
> 
> Liam .xxxxxx

Niall laughed loudly in relief as he read through the letter. He rolled over and put the letter in his top drawer in his nightstand, making a mental note to write back later in the day when he was more awake.

He rolled out of bed and went into the bathroom to do his business and brush through his hair to make sure that there was no tangles in it. Niall sighed when he realized that he needed to re-dye it soon. Maybe he could do something different with it this time. Niall wondered how Liam would feel about that.

Niall walked back into his room and opened his drawer to find a treat for Quinton and gave it to the owl. Then he left his room in hopes that maybe his mum had breakfast fixed for the family. He hoped for maybe a full English breakfast, or at least something that would make him a lot less hungry.

"Morning, Niall," his mum said as he entered the kitchen. "Do you want coffee or juice or anything?"

"I can get it myself, Mum, but thanks. Are you planning on fixing breakfast, or do I have to fend for myself?" Niall said this with a smile to let his mum know that she really didn't need to fix him breakfast if she did not want to.

"I'll get up and fix some French toast when your brother gets up. Sit down. I want you to tell me about Liam," Maura said excitedly. Niall nodded and sat next to her, but he frowned.

"I already told you about Liam," he said softly. "What else do you want to know?"

"What he looks like, how he acts... what he's like. Tell me what you think about him," his mum answered softly.

Niall smiled as his tummy went all fuzzy. "Liam is... amazing. He's about a head taller than me, and he's all brown hair and beautiful brown eyes and chubby cheeks and hotness. I don't even know how to explain it. How can one person be so cute and hot at the same time?

"He's so sweet, too. Liam's always so nice to people, even when they don't deserve it. He was nice to me even when he didn't know me. I didn't really deserve him wanting to be friends with me. I was a total ass at first.

"I think my favorite thing ever is cuddling, though. We have what we call 'our tree' that we just go and sit under, no matter what the weather is like. Like, it can be freezing cold and I'll still be warm because it's Liam that's holding me."

When Niall finally looked up from his hands and looked back at his mother, Maura had a large smile on her face that made Niall feel a bit uncomfortable. "It sounds like you're in love," his mother said softly. She still had that large smile on her face.

"Can I dye my hair lilac?" Niall blurted. He wasn't exactly sure why he chose that moment to ask, but he couldn't stand talking about Liam anymore. Not when he had just come to the realization that he didn't know as much about Liam as he thought he had.

"Why?" Maura asked with a laugh. "You can if you want, I suppose. There's nothing wrong with lilac."

The blond breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank you. I just feel like I need a change, you know? It's like I'm a new person. I need to change something."

His mum nodded in understanding and leaned over to hug her son. "Go see if you can wake your brother up," she told him. "I'll start making French toast."

-

Sometime after he had eaten breakfast, Niall ran out to the store with his brother to pick up his lilac hair dye. Greg hadn't even questioned why his brother wanted to dye his hair such a ridiculous color, and neither had his father. For that, Niall was grateful.

"This the one you want, Nialler?" Greg asked as he held up a small box. The box was lilac in color and was exactly what Niall was looking for.

"Yes, exactly!" Niall cheered. "Will you help me do it when we get back, please?"

"Of course, Nialler," his brother said with a smile. "Have I ever not helped you with your hair?"

That was true; there hadn't been a time that Niall had done his hair that Greg hadn't helped. Hell, he had been the one to buy Niall his very first box of hair dye. He had been the one to bleach Niall's hair when he couldn't do it himself.

"We have a printer at home, right?" Niall asked softly. Greg was paying for the hair dye himself, much to the younger boy's dismay.

"We do," Greg confirmed. "I printed a paper just yesterday. What do you need it for?"

"Maybe after I dye my hair I can print a picture and send it to Liam," Niall said softly. "Just to see what he thinks about it."

"It doesn't matter what he thinks," Greg answered immediately. "You'll look absolutely fabulous, Nialler. Do we still have bleach at home?

-

Niall finished blow drying his hair and looked at his newly lilac hair. "I like it," he said as he looked at Greg. His brother looked at him with a big smile.

"Do you want me to take a picture for you? So you can send it to Leeyum?" Greg asked in such a silly tone, Niall rolled his eyes and giggled. He handed Greg his phone and gave a big smile. The older boy snapped the picture and gave Niall the phone back. "You look great, Nialler."

Niall ignored Greg's words and left the bathroom. He carried his phone down to his father's office so he could print out the picture that Greg had taken of him. Once he was finished with the printer, he went back up to his room and pulled Liam's letter out of his nightstand.

He sat down at his desk and started writing.

> Liam,
> 
> Hi. I did something different today. I'll put a picture at the end of this letter so you can see it. I really hope you like it. Greg (that's my brother) told me not to care what you think, but it's hard not to care. I still hope you like it. It was a bit crazy.
> 
> How has your day gone? I'm going out to get you a present tomorrow, but I don't think I'll be able to send it by owl. Quinton wasn't happy when I made him fly that far.
> 
> Also, you really don't have to ask your mum if you can come all the way out here. It's really okay. My mum just asked and wouldn't leave me alone about it. Don't worry yourself coming all the way out here. The only way you could would be by train, and trains must be a little freaky for you, right? ;)
> 
> I think that's probably enough for this letter. I miss you, LiLi. Write back soon?
> 
> Niall .xx

Quinton was pecking at some food at the bottom of his cage when Niall finished the letter. "C'mere, Q," he said to the owl. Quinton looked at him and flew over to the edge of the desk. "You can take this back to Liam, right? You remember Liam?" The owl looked at him like he was stupid. "Right, yeah. To Liam, okay?" He taped the picture to the letter quickly and rolled it as tightly as possible. Niall then grabbed a piece of string and tied it tightly around Quinton's leg. "To Liam." With that, the owl left.

Niall left his room to see if maybe his father would be up to finding a footie game for the two of them to watch.

"Dad!" Niall called as he walked down the stairs. "Is there a footie game on or something?" When he finally came down so he could see the living room couch, his father wasn't sitting there. Niall frowned and walked into the kitchen.

"Mum?" he asked as he walked into the kitchen. "Where's Dad? I wanted to see if we could watch footie together or something."

"After he got up, he and Greg went out to buy some Christmas gifts. They'll be back soon," Maura said dismissively.

"Okay," Niall said confusedly. "Can I borrow some money then? I want to go out and buy Liam a Christmas present."

Maura was looking awfully distracted as she pulled a fifty dollar note out of her purse. "Here you go, love. Don't be gone too long, yeah?"

"Can you watch for Quinton? I wrote a letter to Liam and I hope that maybe he'll write back while I'm out." Niall pocketed the fifty and slid his shoes on from where they were sitting by the door. "I'll see you later, Mum. Love you!"


	7. seven

Niall found himself in the local mall, wondering what exactly he was supposed to get Liam. A shirt? Some cologne? He wished so desperately that he could just text the older boy and ask what he wanted, but this was another issue with Liam being a pureblood.

Finally, the newly lilac haired boy sighed and walked into Macy's, hoping that someone would be willing to help him find something for his boyfriend. He quickly found an employee, took a deep breath, and hoped that they wouldn't scream at him.

"Hello?" he asked softly, trying to gain the lady's attention. "I was wondering if you could help me find something for my boyfriend for Christmas? I only have about fifty dollars with me, if that works." Niall bit his lip and hoped that the lady would help him.

"Of course!" she said with a smile. "Did you have any ideas of what you wanted to get him?" She began to walk toward what Niall assumed was the men's section of the store.

"I was thinking just some cologne or something? This is our first Christmas together, well, not really together, but I didn't want to go all out."

"What do you mean, not really together? He's your boyfriend, right?" The lady (Miranda, Niall noticed as he looked at her name tag) turned back around and started toward the perfume section. "We have quite the selection of men's colognes."

"We're boyfriends, but we won't actually be together on Christmas. He'll be with his family, I'll be with mine, and we'll see each other in a week or two," Niall informed her. Miranda led him into the aisle of men's colognes.

"I'll leave you alone to look for yourself, but if you need help, I'll be over at the register. Come to me when you need to check out," she told him. Niall nodded and began to look through the selection for the perfect gift for Liam.

He had no idea how long he spent sniffing different bottles, but by the time he had found the perfect one, Niall's head was spinning and he really wanted to go home. The one he had in his hand was perfect. It smelled sort of like vanilla and a bit of musk and everything Niall thought about when he thought about Liam.

Niall took the box holding the cologne up to the check out and hoped he had enough money to pay for it. "I like this one," Miranda mused as she scanned the box. "Fifty dollars even. You lucked out." He pulled the fifty note out of his pocket and handed it over to the lady.

"Thank you," he said as Miranda handed him the bang. "Happy Christmas!"

Niall left the store happy and set back on his journey home. He was happy that he didn't live that far from the mall because the cold was beginning to seep through his sweatshirt and Niall began to shiver.

Fifteen minutes later, Niall was shivering as he walked back into the house. "Mum!" he called. "I'm back! Do you want to see what I got-" Niall paused for a moment as a familiar face came around the corner. "Liam?"

"Hi, Niall," his boyfriend said with a smile. "Wanna give me a hug?"

"Liam!" Niall gasped as he ran into his boyfriend's arms. "How did you get here? Why are you here? I thought you weren't coming!"

Liam laughed and wrapped his arms around Niall's waist. "I never said I wasn't coming, baby. My mum wrote yours and they arranged for me to come stay until Christmas Eve. I got on a train. Your dad and Greg came to get me. They're hilarious, by the way." It was clear that Liam just wanted to hold onto the boy for a little longer, for he gripped the lilac haired boy a bit tighter and buried his head into his hair.

"I missed you," Niall mumbled against his shoulder. "I can't believe you came."

"You dyed your hair," the older boy said in surprise. "When did you do that?"

"Did you not get my last letter?" Niall frowned. "Well, no, you didn't. Your mum's probably got it or something. I sent a picture."

"I'll have to look at that when I get back," Liam mused. "Why don't you show me up to your room? Don't worry, I've already gotten the door open rule from your parents. And you can show me whatever you got me?"

Niall giggled and grabbed his boyfriend's hand in his own. He guided Liam up the stairs and to his bedroom.They sat down on his bed, and Niall carefully slid the bag with the cologne with it under the bed. "I'm not telling what I got you because it was supposed to be a Christmas gift. I'll give it to you before you leave again."

"Don't wish me away, darling," Liam murmured as he placed a soft kiss on the boy's lips. "I just got here. I don't want to leave yet."

"I don't want you to leave either," Niall whispered against his boyfriend's lips. Liam ran a hand through the lilac boy's hair and smiled.

"I really love your hair," Liam admitted. "Why did you do it like this?"

"Just wanted a change," Niall said with a shrug. "Do you want to watch a movie? Have you had lunch? Do you want a sandwich or something?"

"Slow down," Liam laughed. "I had lunch on the train, and a movie sounds great. What do you want to watch?"

"I dunno." Niall climbed off the bed and walked toward his tv to search through his movies. "What do you want to watch? I've got Disney movies, romance, some horror movies..." He trailed off as he sorted through his movies. He heard Liam climb off the bed and sit on the ground next to him.

"Movies? Liam asked, looking puzzled. "What's a movie?"

"Oh dear," Niall mumbled. He frantically searched through his pile to try and find a movie that Liam might like. "You like scary things, right? We'll just watch a horror movie then."

Liam laughed as Niall grabbed the first disc off of the stack. He put the disc in the DVD player and hurried back to the bed to lay with Liam. "Little spoon," his boyfriend mumbled as he laid down.

"I'll lay however I like," Niall sassed right back. He had a smile on his face, though, so Liam would know that he was only joking. The lilac haired boy made himself comfortable between Liam's legs. He leaned back on the older boy's chest and sighed happily. "You're comfy," he mumbled.

"You're like a little cuddle bear," Liam mumbled right back. He kissed the top of Niall's head and smiled into his hair. "I really like you, Niall."

"I really like you, too, Liam," Niall whispered right back. He craned his neck around and leaned up to give Liam a small kiss. In front of them, the movie began, and both boys fell into silence.

Halfway through the movie, Niall had rolled over and was hiding his face in Liam's chest. "I think I picked the scariest one I have," he whispered as he heard someone scream from the television.

"I thought you had seen all of these before," Liam said as he gripped Niall a bit tighter. "Do you want me to turn it off? It's okay if you're too scary. We can watch one of those Disney movies you were talking about."

"No, it's fine," Niall promised. "You can keep watching. The movie sounds nice." Another scream was heard from the movie, and they both chuckled.

"Are you sure? I'm perfectly fine with turning it off if you don't want to watch it. Anything else is fine." Liam said with a smile.

"Would you really turn it off?" Niall asked softly. He peeked out from Liam's chest to look at the older boy.

"If you want me to," Liam said as he nodded. He lifted Niall off of him, moved down to the disc player, and looked at it confusingly. "I don't know how to work this thing," he admitted with a small laugh.

Niall giggled too and sat down in front of the disc player. He grabbed Finding Nemo off the top of his Disney stack, put it in the player, and dragged Liam back to the bed to cuddle.

"You make me happy," Liam whispered as he kissed the top of his boyfriend's head. Niall laughed loudly and watched as the movie started to play.

"Stop being so sappy and watch the movie."

-

Niall and Liam slept in sometime during the movie. When the lilac boy awoke, Liam was still gripping him tightly and snoring slightly with his mouth open. Niall thought he looked beautiful.

Trying not to disturb the older boy, Niall reached over to the nightstand and grabbed his phone. He flicked the sound off and opened his camera and quickly snapped a picture of Liam. Even the picture couldn't beat the real thing, but it would have to do for the times that the younger boy was missing him.

It was fifteen minutes later when Liam woke up, too. Niall was just laying with his head on his boyfriend's chest, staring up at him. "Why are you looking at me?" Liam asked in a sleepy tone.

"You're beautiful," Niall whispered. "That's why."

"Shut up," the older boy groaned as he blushed. "You're way more beautiful than me. Especially with your new hair. I didn't think it was possible to look so adorable."

Niall couldn't do very much more than blush at Liam's words. "Are you hungry?" he finally asked. "Mum's probably got dinner finished if you want to go down at eat."

"That sounds great," Liam agreed. Niall slid off the bed and took his boyfriend's hand in his own as they walked down the stairs together. "Mum?" he called. "Is dinner ready yet?"

The pair walked into the kitchen to see Maura finishing up dinner, which was a proper Irish stew. "Of course. Liam, why don't you go pick a seat? Niall, will you go get your father and brother from the garage? They've been fooling around in there all afternoon."

Niall squeezed his hand one more time and left to go get Bobby and Greg from the garage. He walked out there quickly and hoped that maybe his mother wasn't quizzing Liam too much back in the kitchen. That just made him walk faster.

"Dad! Greg!" he called as he peeked his head in the garage. "Dinner's ready!"

Niall left just as quickly as he came, running back into the kitchen and sitting down next to Liam. "Mum didn't quiz you too much, did she?" he whispered in Liam's ear. "I should have told her not to."

"She didn't ask me much of anything, love," Liam answered with a smile. "Don't worry. She's just being your mum. She wants to make sure that you're being treated right."

As if she had heard herself being called, Maura walked into the dining room holding two bowls for Liam and Niall. "Wait till we're all here to eat," she said, looking directly at Niall.

Niall blushed deeply and looked at Liam for support. The older boy was trying not to laugh. "I'm a growing boy!" he protested as his boyfriend began to laugh at him. "Don't laugh!"

"What's so funny?" Greg asked as he walked into the room. He pulled off his jacket and set it over the chair before sitting down. "Why does Liam look like he's about to die?"

"Maura," Liam breathed through his laughter, "had to tell Niall not to," more laughter, "eat before you guys came in!"

"She always tells him that," Bobby said as he sat down. "It never seems to work, but with you here, it seemed to. You might have to stay here forever." Everyone laughed as if it was a joke, even Liam, but Niall just felt sad that Liam wouldn't be able to stay forever.

Maura brought out two more bowls for Bobby and Greg and then one more for herself. "Now you can eat, Niall," she said with a smile. Niall nodded eagerly and began to slurp his soup, not paying any attention to the way everyone was looking at him.

Liam was simply admiring his boyfriend and how excited he got over food. Without thinking, he leaned over and placed a small kiss on his boyfriend's shoulder since he was eating. Niall's cheeks flushed, but the younger boy didn't stop eating.

Niall smiled through his food after Liam kissed his shoulder. He was happy that no one was questioning Liam on every moment of his life.

"So, Liam, what are your intention with my son?" Bobby asked loudly. Niall immediately groaned. That was the question he had been dreading. He pushed his bowl out of the way so he could bang his head on the table. Niall only accomplished this once, however, because Liam put his hand on top of the table so Niall would be unable to bang his head once more.

"What do you mean?" Liam asked as he leaned forward in his chair. He kept his hand on top of the table so that Niall couldn't bang his head on it once more. "Don't do that, love," he whispered. "You'll hurt your head."

"That's the point!" Niall whined. "I would leave, but I don't want to leave you here on your own."

"I mean," Bobby said pointedly. Niall could tell exactly what his father thinking (what a half wit), "what exactly do you want from Niall? Because as far as I could tell from what Niall told us, you haven't exactly been the best friend to him. What is it to say that you'll be a good boyfriend?"

Liam looked down at his lap and sighed. "In first year, I noticed Niall on the train. He was sitting all by himself, and I wondered why. But my friend, Harry, was already calling for me to come sit with him, so I didn't sit with Niall. But I watched out for him through the year and tried my best to keep anyone from bothering him.

"The same things happened in second, third, fourth, and fifth years. I'd try to get up the courage to go talk to him, but something would get in my way or I would just chicken out. I guess somewhere along the way I developed a crush on him, but I can't really say where. I'd always try and check up on him, make sure he was okay.

"And then this year, I finally got my chance. Everywhere else was full on the train except for the booth with Niall. It was the best opportunity. And I know I was a shit friend, and I can't really explain that, but I promise to be a better boyfriend." Liam took a deep breath and bit his lip, as if he were trying to hold something back.

"Good," Bobby said with a smile. "I can handle that. But if you hurt my boy, I've got an axe in the garage."

Liam laughed a bit and nodded. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Can we leave now?" Niall said with his head still on Liam's hand. "I think I've had enough embarrassment for today."

"You can go," Maura said with a smile. "Door open though, boys."

Niall groaned once more and stood up. "You coming, Li? Or do you want to listen to my mum tell baby stories?"

"Nah, I'll listen to those tomorrow," Liam said with a wink. "C'mon, baby. Let's go back to your room."

Niall laughed as he heard Greg gag a bit at their cuteness. "Don't gag!" Niall yelled at him. "I've had to deal with you and Denise for the past two years! Everyone's wondering when you're just going to pop the question!"

The lilac boy stomped away with Liam laughing behind him. Liam managed to grab Niall's hand as they were walking up the stairs and rubbed it soothingly. When they made it up to the younger boy's room, Liam quickly took the boy into his arms and held him tightly.

"Why'd you get so upset back there?" Liam whispered as he placed a small kiss on the top of Niall's head. "I don't mind your parents asking me questions. I expected them to grill me more than that, actually." Niall listened to Liam light laughter and sighed happily.

"I don't know. I just want you all to myself," Niall mumbled. "It was just embarrassing. I didn't want them to sit and question you. I want to sit and question you."

"What do you want to ask me?" Liam asked softly. He released Niall and moved them over to the bed. "I'll tell you anything you want to know."

"The other day my mum asked about you and I realized that I really didn't know anything about you. I mean, I know that I like you and that you're a good guy, but I don't really know about your family or even your favorite color." Niall looked at his hands as he spoke. He was a bit afraid to look up at Liam and see his reaction.

"Just ask me anything, baby." Liam slipped his finger under Niall's chin so the boy would look up at him. "I'll answer anything. And then I might have to ask you a couple of questions in return."

Niall nodded slowly and began to think of his questions. "What's your favorite color?" he asked softly.

"Blue," Liam answered softly. "Like your eyes."

The younger boy blushed deeply but continued with asking his questions. "Can you tell me about your family?"

"Sure," Liam nodded. "I've got two sisters, Nicola and Ruth. They're both older than me and just wonderful. And my mum makes the best food, you wouldn't believe it. My dad's so supportive, too. He was the one that taught me how to play Quidditch in the first place." By the time Liam had finished, the older boy was smiling so hard, Niall thought his cheeks would split. "We have a dog, too, named Britt. She's the cutest thing ever, I swear."

Now Niall was smiling too at how excited Liam was over his family. "I'd like to meet them some time."

"I'd like you to meet them some time." Liam was smiling, too. "Do you have anymore questions for me?"

So they continued on for another hour, Niall asking any question he could think of and Liam answering them honestly. By the time they had finished, it was nearly nine o'clock and all Niall really wanted to do was take a shower.

"I'm gonna go shower," Nial told him. He kissed Liam's cheek, gathered up his night clothes, and was about to leave when he turned around and noticed the small pout on Liam's face. "Do you want to come with me?"

"Could I?" Liam asked happily. "I don't really know how to work anything here."

"Grab your clothes, love," Niall told him. "I'll show you how to work the shower. But no blowjobs! Not while my parents are here, anyway."

Liam was grinning like the devil as he looked up at Niall. "So we can shower together?" he asked eagerly.

"Yes," Niall said through giggles. "Now grab your clothes and come on."

Liam nodded and went to his bag in the corner of Niall's room. "Can I sleep in just my boxers or will that make you uncomfortable?"

Niall blushed deeply and just nodded. Once Liam had his boxers in his hand, the younger boy began to lead him down the hall to the bathroom. No sooner than he had shut the door, Liam attacked his lips in a kiss.

He let his boyfriend kiss him for another moment before he pushed him away. "We actually need to shower, Liam," he said through a giggle.

"Sorry, baby," Liam mumbled. "You're just so cute, I can't help it."

The two of them began to undress, with Liam occasionally trying to lean over and kiss any part of Niall's face he could reach. Niall couldn't stop laughing, and he wished that maybe they could spend the rest of their lives like this.

Niall tried his best to turn the water on with Liam trying his best to kiss his neck. The younger boy was laughing his head off, and Liam was steadily trying to pull Niall back so they were as close as possible.

"Let me go!" Niall finally whined in his playful tone. "I need to turn the water on, babe." Liam laughed once more and let him go (finally) so he could turn the water on and get it to the perfect temperature.

Liam pulled the both of them under the shower water and kissed Niall lightly. "Have I ever told you that you're really pretty?" Liam asked softly. Niall giggled a bit and nodded.

"Maybe once or twice. Can you wash my hair for me?" Niall asked softly. He moved out from under the spray so his boyfriend could wash his hair.

"Is it okay to wash?" Liam asked in a worried tone. "You did dye it today, after all."

"It'll be fine," the lilac boy promised. "It'll wash out, though, so be prepared."

Liam didn't say anything and began to massage the shampoo into the Niall's head. The younger boy let out soft moans as his boyfriend worked the shampoo into his head. "Feels good," Niall mumbled.

"I can do a lot better things with my fingers, baby boy," Liam whispered in his ear. As much as Niall wanted to give in, he still managed to laugh it off.

"Not tonight, Liam," he whispered back. "Maybe some other time, okay? Not when my parents are home. I tend to get a bit loud. Now let me wash out the shampoo so I can do your hair." Niall tried to wash the shampoo out of his hair as quickly as possible so he could get his hands on Liam.

He squirted some shampoo in his hands and told Liam to bend down so he could properly wash the older boy's hair. Niall washed it carefully, pulling a bit as he moved his hands away because he knew that Liam liked it.

They finished off their shower quickly, with a few more sneaky kisses from Liam and a few more laughs from Niall. The younger boy stepped out of the shower first to try and escape Liam's wandering hands. He dried off quickly and threw the towel at Liam.

Once they had their clothes on, Niall led his boyfriend back to his room and laid down on the bed. "I'm tired, LiLi," he whined. "Come cuddle me. I want to sleep."

Liam didn't even bother to reply. He just crawled in the bed behind Niall and pulled him close. "Goodnight, baby," he mumbled in Niall's ear. And as the younger boy drifted off, he could have sworn he heard Liam whisper a soft "I love you."


	8. eight

Niall woke up the next morning pressed against a hard chest, and he was happy. Liam's arms were tight around his waist. The younger boy was facing Liam, so he managed to look up at Liam's sleeping face. He looked like an angel, Niall thought.

He let Liam sleep for another few minutes, listening to the older boy's soft snores as they fell from his mouth. "Liam," he finally whispered. He reached one hand up and poked at his boyfriend's cheek. "Liam, babe. It's time to wake up."

Liam groaned and gripped Niall tighter. "Ten more minutes," he mumbled into the top of Niall's head.

"It's almost breakfast time, Li," Niall whispered back. "I'm going to get up and leave you all alone here so you get all cold and lonely." He leaned up and kissed below Liam's chin and began to move out of his arms, but the older boy wouldn't let him go.

"Don't leave me," he mumbled. "I'll get up, but don't leave me." Liam finally opened his eyes and looked down at Niall, who had a goofy smile on his face. "Good morning, baby."

"Good morning," Niall answered with a smile. "You look nice."

"I probably look like shit." Liam laughed. "Now give me a proper kiss and we'll go down and eat breakfast."

"Not with your morning breath," Niall teased. "Let's go get breakfast and then we'll see about that kiss."

So Niall and Liam crawled out of bed and put on t shirts and pants so they could go downstairs to eat breakfast properly clothed. "Morning, Mum!" Niall greeted happily. He let go of Liam's hand so he could bounce over and give his mum a kiss. "Is breakfast ready?"

"I knew you had an ulterior motive," Maura teased. "Go sit at the table, I'll bring the food out in a moment." Niall kissed her cheek once more and dragged Liam to the dining table.

"Sit down," Niall ordered. Liam did as he was told, and Niall sat down happily in his lap. "I think I'll give you that kiss now. I can't wait until after breakfast." He leaned in and kissed the tip of Liam's nose softly before connecting their lips.

They had only kissed properly for a second before Maura was walking into the room with two plates and a disapproving smile. "Are you planning on getting in your own chair, Niall?"

Niall looked up at her with a pout. "Do I have to?" he asked cheekily. "I'm very happy here if I don't have to move."

"I suppose you don't have to," Maura said finally. "Just don't drop anything on you or Liam!" she warned.

Niall smiled happily and gave Liam another kiss before he turned around and began to happily eat his food. Liam laughed at his boyfriend's cuteness and began to eat his food too, with one arm wrapped around Niall's waist tightly. He ate with his other hand, occasionally kissing Niall's back or shoulders just because the younger boy was so cute.

They successfully finished their breakfast without either boy dropping food on the other, making Maura snort. "Just go upstairs, boys!" she said teasingly. "And door open!"

"Mum?" Niall asked without moving. "Can I take Liam to the mall? Or we could go see a movie or something?"

"Do you have any money left over from yesterday?" Maura asked casually. "Or, just grab some out of the cookie jar. Just have fun!"

Niall was a bit confused to how his mother was acting. She had never just let him go out without a set limit he could spend. Hell, she rarely let him go out by himself! But she had just told him that he could grab whatever he wanted out of the cookie jar and go to something with Liam. Had she gone insane?

"Let's go up and get ready," Niall suggested. "Then we'll come back down and go somewhere."

"Go see a movie?" Liam asked confusedly. "Like we did last night?" Niall giggled at his boyfriend's confused face. "What's so funny?"

"Absolutely nothing, love," Niall said as he placed a kiss on Liam's cheek. "Let's go get dressed." The pair walked back upstairs to Niall's room. The younger boy immediately went to his closet and began to pull out clothes to change into, but it seemed that his boyfriend had other ideas. Liam wrapped himself around the younger boy and began to kiss him softly.

"We have to change, babe," Niall said as he giggled. "We have to go see a movie or something. Maybe I can take you shopping."

"Like, robe shopping?" Liam was confused again, making Niall laugh again. "I've never been anything other than robe shopping. Mum buys all the Muggle clothes!"

"Not robe shopping, love." Niall leaned up and gave his boyfriend a kiss. "Maybe we'll just see a movie then. I've already gotten you a Christmas present, I probably shouldn't get you anything more."

"I'm still as confused as to what a movie is." Liam's face looked so adorable, Niall reached up and pinched his cheeks. He then turned around and went back to his closet.

-

Niall gripped Liam's hand tightly as he dragged him into the movie theatre. "Oh! We can see Jurassic World!" Niall said excitedly. "What do you think, LiL?"

"What's it about?" Liam asked distractedly. He was too busy admiring the small theatre, for he had never seen anything quite like it.

"Dinosaurs," the younger boy said with a grin.

"What are dinosaurs?"

"Oh jeez." Niall laughed. "You'll love it, I promise. I'll go get us tickets. Do you want to stay out here while I get the tickets? You have to promise not to walk off, though."

"I'll stay," Liam promised. "Go get the tickets, please? And do they have food here?"

"I'll get you some popcorn and maybe some candy. You'll like Muggle candy!" Niall placed a quick kiss on Liam's cheek before he pulled away. "Stay right here." He then left to the counter.

"Hi," Niall greeted to gain the attendant's attention. "Can I get two tickets to Jurassic World? And a large popcorn and two packs of M&M's, s'il vous plait." He handed over the money for everything he had ordered and waited patiently for the attendant to gather everything.

He first handed Niall the tickets, which the boy slid in his pocket. He then handed the popcorn and M&M's over and Niall smiled happily. "Thank you!" he said with another smile. The boy walked quickly back to where his boyfriend was now admiring movie posters.

"I didn't get anything to drink," he said apologetically, "but it was for a good reason. If you drink something, you'll have to pee, and it's never fun when you have to pee in the movies. You miss out on so much." Niall pouted because yes, he did know that feeling. "We'll go get our tickets checked and then we'll head into the theatre, okay? Unless you need to go to the bathroom now."

"I'm fine," Liam said dismissively. "Where's the theatre? Is it just going to be us in there, like last night?"

"It probably won't be just us. But maybe we'll luck out and it will be. This film has been out for a couple of weeks, so." Niall handed Liam one of the bags of candy. "Don't eat those yet."

They went and got their tickets checked and were directed to a theatre. Niall led Liam down the long hall by the hand, pointing out different films that looked interesting. Liam was absolutely amazed.

Niall led Liam all the way to the back of the theatre so they could possibly have a bit of privacy. No one was yet in the theatre, but the younger boy tried not to get his hopes up that they would be alone.

They did end up alone. Niall was very happy when the movie began and they were still alone. "We're alone," Niall whispered with a grin. "Now I can explain about all the Muggle things in the film! Do you want to put a bag of the candy in the popcorn?"

Liam didn't take his eyes off the screen as he nodded. "How is it so big?" he whispered. "What kind of magic is this?"

"Not magic, babe." Niall leaned over and kissed his boyfriend's cheek. "Even Muggles can perform their own types of magic."

The movie actually began and Niall settled back into his seat. He couldn't wait to see Liam's reaction to the film.

-

Liam was still in awe after the movie was over. Niall had to practically drag him out of seat. "We've got to go back home, Li. Maybe we can go see it again before you leave?"

"I thought you told me dinosaurs are extinct," Liam mumbled. "How were they alive in that movie?" Niall laughed, realizing that this would probably be Liam for the rest of the day. And his questions seemed like something a small child would ask.

"I can't tell you, Li. You wouldn't understand. I don't even understand how they can make them look so real. It might actually be some sort of magic. Are you ready to go back home?" Niall was forced to hold Liam's hand all the way back home, dragging his boyfriend as the older boy mumbled about the movie.

When they got back home, Liam was still walking in a daze and Niall was a bit worried about him. He pulled Liam upstairs, pushed the boy down on the bed, and crawled over him. "Are you okay?" he asked softly, leaning over Liam's face. "You seem a little out of it. I didn't break your brain, did I?"

"Just overwhelmed," Liam explained. "It's a lot to take in for one day. And you look amazing, have I told you?"

Niall giggled. "You haven't told me yet, but thank you. You don't look half bad yourself." He leaned down slightly and placed a kiss on Liam's lips. He didn't give the older boy time to hold him down before he pulled back up. "Are you okay now? You don't seem so groggy."

"I'm always okay when I'm with you." Liam grinned. "Will you come down here and kiss me now?"

"No." Niall rubbed his nose along Liam's. "I just wanted to get your attention back on me." With that, the younger boy crawled off of him and lied down next to him. "I want a nap. Can we nap?"

"Why don't we do something?" Liam asked softly. "You could show me some of your music? Or we could just go walk around town? I don't want to take a nap. I only have another day with you."

"Please don't remind me," the younger boy groaned. "I don't want you to leave. I might just kidnap you so you can stay here with me forever."

"I wouldn't mind that." Liam rolled over on top of Niall and gave him a kiss. "I'd like if you could give me a proper kiss now."

"Nope!" Niall popped his lips and shoved Liam off of him. "You're right. We should do something. Let's just go walk around town. I'll talk you to the park and we can play around or something."

Niall pulled Liam up off the bed and hugged him tightly. "Let's go."

-

Niall laughed as he tried to once again to teach Liam how to swing. "All you have to do is pump your legs back and forth, Li, how is that so hard?"

"It just is!" Liam was laughing too. They were drawing the attention of many parents and kids, but neither boy could bring themselves to care. They were having too much fun. "Can you push me?"

Niall laughed once more and walked behind his boyfriend. "Just keep your feet off the ground so you don't drag, okay?" He then began to push.

The younger boy pushed Liam for a few minutes, constantly grabbing more at his ass then pushing his back. Liam was laughing his head off, and parents were slowly pulling their children away from the swings.

"Stop grabbing my ass!" Liam finally yelled through laughter. "We're in public!"

Niall laughed and grabbed him once more before letting go. "You push me, then," he said stubbornly. "Or I could sit on your lap and we could just cuddle for a bit."

Liam didn't even bother to get up. He just pulled the younger boy down onto his lap. He wrapped his arms tightly around Niall's waist. "Can we just stay here forever? We could build a little house right over there," Liam pointed over to a small clearing, "and live here forever."

"That sounds nice," Niall mumbled. "We can live in our own little house and we don't even have to leave."

Liam nuzzled his face into Niall's neck and breathed against the skin. "I suppose we'll have to go soon, right? Isn't it almost dinner time?"

Niall looked up at the sky, which was steadily growing dark, and then pulled out his phone to check the time. "I guess it is time to go home. Mum is probably itching for us to get back."

And so it went that the pair arrived back at Niall's home. Liam was right; Maura did have dinner waiting for them when they got back. She had just finished up, saying that she was just about to call the pair back home anyway. Niall brought Liam to the dining table and sat down in his own chair grudgingly. He wanted to sit down in Liam's lap as he had at breakfast, but Niall knew his father wouldn't exactly approve.

Instead, he held Liam's hand under the table and leaned on his shoulder while they waited on Bobby and Greg. "Remind me to give you your present tonight," Niall whispered in Liam's ear.

"What is it?" Liam asked cheekily.

"You'll just have to wait and see, now won't you?" Just as Niall finished speaking Greg and Denise walked into the room. "Denise!" Niall greeted. "I haven't seen you in a while! How have you been?"

"I've been great, Niall. Who's this lad you've got here? Boyfriend?" Denise winked over at Liam as she hugged Niall tightly.

"Boyfriend, yeah. Denise, this is Liam. Liam, this is Denise." Niall had a large smile on his face as he introduced Liam. His boyfriend stood up and pulled Denise into an awkward hug.

"Well, you're a looker, aren't you?" Denise laughed loudly. "You've got yourself a strong one, Niall. It's good. He'll be able to catch you when the wind blows too hard."

Liam looked over at Niall with a confused face. Niall leaned up and whispered in his ear, "She and Greg were practically made for each other. We're waiting for him to pop the question any time now."

"I can see why," Liam whispered right back. Greg and Denise were sitting on the side of the table opposite to Niall and Liam, and the pair were poking at each other and laughing loudly. "They do look perfect for each other."

"I just hope I'm around when he does it. I'd love to see Denise's face," Niall continued to whisper and hoped that Greg wouldn't look up and demand to know what the two were sitting so close for.

"I'd like to be around too. Maybe he'll do it tonight," Liam joked.

"It's taco night!" Maura called into the dining room. She peeked her head in and seemed fairly surprised when she say Denise. "Greg! Why didn't you tell me Denise was coming for dinner? It's good I've fixed plenty!"

"Bit of a surprise, Mum," Greg said with a cheeky smile. "I've got something I need to do tonight."

Niall groaned and pulled himself up from his seat. "C'mon, Liam. Let's go fix our tacos and leave these lovebirds alone." As the passed by where Maura was standing, the younger boy grabbed her hand and pulled her back into the kitchen. "Is he proposing tonight?" Niall asked in an excited hushed whisper.

"I have no idea!" Maura said in the same tone. "I hope he does, though. I've been on his ass to get him to propose. They love each other so much it's crazy. Now, enough gossiping. Fix your plates."

When they finished making their plates, Bobby, Greg, and Denise were wandering into the kitchen to fix theirs as well. "Wait for the rest of us, Niall!" Greg reminded him jokingly. Niall grumbled and continued back to the dining room.

"What time are you leaving tomorrow?" Niall mumbled as he sat down. He leaned his head against Liam's shoulder. "I don't want you to leave. Can you not?"

"I don't want to leave either, if it makes you feel better." Liam kissed the top of his boyfriend's head. "My train leaves at eleven, I think. My mom wanted me back for dinner tomorrow."

"I wish you could stay for Christmas dinner." Niall was pouting. "It's always the best. Mum makes the best turkey and pudding..." he sighed.

"I wish you could come home with me for Christmas." Liam chuckled. "I'm kind of embarrassed that I didn't get you anything, you know. You should have told me you were getting me something."

"I did," the younger boy pointed out. "In that letter I wrote you that you never got because you decided to surprise me."

Their conversation was once again cut short when the rest of Niall's family entered the dining room to eat their meal. Under the table, Liam's hand found Niall's knee and rubbed it slowly. Niall smiled into his food.

Niall could hear his father talking and it was probably something he should be listening to, but instead, all he could think of was Liam's hand on his knee. When he finally forced himself to listen, Niall heard "So, Denise, why exactly did Greg bring you over? Not like there's any problem with it."

Denise laughed. "No offense taken. Greg said he wanted to have a date night, but he's broke. So here we are." Everyone, even Liam, laughed at that. It was so very Greg to bring a girl to his house for dinner because he had no money. Greg just nodded along with a huge smile like this was his plan all along.

Niall raised his eyebrow at his brother suspiciously , but Greg pretended like he didn't notice. The younger boy looked over at Liam, but his boyfriend looked just as confused.

The food was finished quickly, as it always was in the Horan household. Greg pulled Denise outside so they could go on a little walk, and Niall and Liam retreated back to the younger boy's room.

"Do you think he's going to propose?" he asked as soon as they entered the room. Niall wanted so badly to shut the door, but he didn't want to face his parent's wrath.

"It seems like it," Liam said with a shrug. "I hope so."

"Do you want your present now?" Niall asked with a smile. He didn't even bother to hear Liam's answer before he was pulling the boy over to the bed and pushing him down so he was sitting on top of it. Niall leaned under the bed and pulled out the small Macy's bag. "I know it's not very much, but it's the most I could get. After all, I don't even know if we'll be together by next Christmas."

Liam was staring at the box in his hand. "Um... What is it?"

Niall laughed loudly, forgetting that Liam more than likely wouldn't know what cologne is. "It's called cologne, Li." He took the box from his boyfriend and opened it slowly. "You can put it here, behind your ears," Niall dabbed a bit of the cologne behind Liam's ears, "and here, right underneath your jaw," he dabbed a bit there, "and it makes you smell good." To prove his point, Niall nuzzled his face into Liam's neck. "You smell really good. I'm going to be prying girls off of you."

"I'm yours," Liam whispered. Niall placed a small kiss on his boyfriend's neck and pulled away.

"I'm going to need you to wear that every day. You smell fantastic." Niall nearly moaned.

Niall heard his name called downstairs and he frowned. "What do they want?" he mumbled. He pulled Liam up off the bed and pulled him downstairs. "You called, Mum?"

"Greg and Denise have something to announce!" she said excitedly. Niall looked up at his brother.

"So, Niall, would you like to be my best man?" Greg asked cheekily.

"You're getting married?" Niall nearly screamed. "Congratulations, man!" He first went to give his brother a hug, then pulled Denise into one. "I'm so happy for you guys!" Liam hugged the couple as well and gave his congratulations. After a few minutes, Niall and Liam were able to retreat back upstairs.

"So they really are getting married," Liam mused as he laid back on the bed.

"They really are. Would you like to be my date to the wedding?" Niall laid back on the bed too and cuddled himself into Liam's side.

"Of course, baby. Just give me a when and where and I'll be on the next train." Liam gave Niall a small kiss.

"That's good. I'm gonna lay here and smell you now, okay? I did a damn good job with this cologne." With that, Niall rolled over on top of Liam and shoved his head into the crook of his boyfriend's neck. Liam smiled happily. Neither boy could think of a place they'd rather be.


	9. nine

Niall drove Liam to the train station himself the next morning. He may or may not have had tears in his eyes the entire way there. Niall absolutely refused to let Liam go until he had kissed him at least a hundred times.

"Are you sure you have to leave?" Niall whispered as he wiped at his face. He didn't want to cry. He really, really didn't want to cry. "I wish you could just stay with me forever."

"I wish I could stay with you too, baby." Liam gave Niall yet another small kiss. "I really have to go. My train leaves in like five minutes."

Niall reluctantly pulled himself off of Liam. "You'll write me every day, right?" he asked in a soft voice. Liam's heart broke a bit at the sound of vulnerability.

"Of course, love. I'll write you every single day. We're only on break a few more days, anyway. I'll see you soon, baby." Liam pulled Niall into one last hug and placed a small peck on his forehead. "I love you."

Niall was shocked, but he recovered quickly. Liam had already begun walking away when he yelled out, "I love you too, LiLi!"

Liam turned around, gave Niall a eye-crinkled smile, and stepped onto his train.

-

Niall went back home and moped in his room until dinner time. His family understood his moping, but they absolutely refused to let him miss their Christmas Eve dinner. Greg had come up to Niall's room and physically dragged him down to the dining room.

"You can't mope forever, love," Maura told him as soon as she saw him. "I fixed your plate for you. Go ahead and eat."

So Niall ate out his feelings. He ate every last bit of food that his mother had placed on his plate, and then he got up to get more. "I think you've had enough!" Maura called as Niall got out of his seat for a third helping. Niall sighed and put his plate in the sink. His mum came out of the dining room with a worried expression on her face.

"Are you alright, love?" she asked as she entered the kitchen. Maura walked over to where Niall was standing and rubbed at his back soothingly.

"Liam probably shouldn't have even come," Niall mumbled. "It just made me miss him even more. I didn't think that was possible."

"You'll see him again in a few days," Maura promised. "And you two write? You'll be okay, babe. You survived a few days without him already. You can survive a few more."

"Can I just go to bed, Mum? I'm tired. It's been a long day." Niall pulled his mum into a hug and then left before she could even respond.

Niall tried his best to remember not to slam the door when he entered his room. Instead, he shut his door carefully and collapsed onto his bed. It still smelled like Liam. He barely had any time to mope, though, before an owl was tapping at his window. He climbed off the bed and opened the window to see an unfamiliar owl at his window. He hoped it was Liam's.

He unwrapped the letter from around the owl's leg, gave it a treat, and sent it off once again. Niall would send Quinton with another letter for Liam. A smile spread across his face as he read it.

Niall,

I got your letter when I arrived home today. Mum handed it to me before she even hugged me. I don't know whether or not she read it, but she winked at me when she handed it to me. She also said I smell good. You won't have to pry her off of me, though.

How has the rest of your day been? I admit I might have cried a little bit on the train, but no one needs to know that. Dad says I'm just a bit lovesick. Maybe I am. (I should have stolen one of your shirts. You've got things that smell like me now. I need something like smells like you.) I think I left one of my hoodies over there. Can you look for it?

I have no idea what else to talk about, so I think I'll just end this letter here. Love you!!!!!

LiLi .xxxxxx

Niall couldn't stop smiling by the end of the letter. Liam was very cute. He immediately pulled out a piece of paper to write Liam back.

Liam,

I'm glad you finally got my letter. I hope your mum didn't read it, though. That would be a bit embarrassing. But I don't blame her for saying you smell good. You do.

My day's been okay, I guess. I've mainly been in my room moping because I didn't want you to leave. Greg had to actually come pull me out of my room for dinner because I refused to leave it. It was crazy. (I might have cried a little, too, but no one needs to know that.) I know exactly where your hoodie is. I'm wearing it. How did you not notice? It's warm and I have sweater paws!

I guess this is where I'll end my letter too. Love you, LiLi!!!

your baby boy .xxxxxxx

Quinton was back in his cage after his previous night out hunting. Since, after all, owls aren't all that prevalent in England, Niall could only let his owl out at night. Now the sun was going down, so he could let Quinton out to deliver the letter and hunt while he was at it.

"Okay, Q," Niall started as he began to tie the letter around the owl's leg. "Take this to Liam, okay? Don't bother to wait on the reply, though. Just go do your hunting and come back, okay? I'll leave the window open." He tugged the letter tight once more and watched Quinton fly out the window. Niall then decided he had nothing else to stay awake for.

-

Christmas and the days following passed in a blur. Niall really didn't get anything worth really remembering: a new phone case, clothing, a new pair of robes, and a couple of CDs. All he could really wait for was to get back to Hogwarts so he could see Liam.

Greg had been the one to take Niall back to the train station. His mum had been busy, and his dad claimed to be busy, but they both said their goodbyes at home. Greg had made Niall nearly late for his train, and only managed a quick goodbye before Niall was running onto the platform.

Once his things were packed into the train, Niall had to find himself a seat. He hoped that maybe he could find Liam. Unfortunately, he really didn't feel like searching through the entire train for him. Niall found an empty booth for himself, sat down, and pulled out his phone.

He was slightly disappointed that he wouldn't be sitting with Liam on the train ride back, but he couldn't really blame Liam for not waiting on him. Niall had been late, after all. He shoved his earphones into his ears and sighed.

Niall wasn't sure how long it was before someone was tapping on his shoulder. He pulled the earphone out of one of his ears and hummed without opening his eyes. "Niall? Why are you sitting down here all by yourself?" It was Louis asking.

"Lou?" Niall mumbled as he opened his eyes. "How was your Christmas?"

"It was good! Harry and I-" Louis stopped suddenly and narrowed his eyes at Niall. "You never told me why you were sitting down here alone."

"I'll tell you once you finish your story," Niall answered impatiently. "Now tell me, what about you and Harry? I noticed you were a bit closer on the train before we left..." he raised his eyebrow and waited.

"We're together," Louis said softly. His cheeks were blushed. Niall felt like squealing, so he did. "I really like him, Nialler."

"You guys are so cute!" Niall said with a gasp. "Did you ask him or did he ask you? Have you kissed yet?" The younger boy was so excited he didn't know what to do with himself.

"You haven't even see us together!" Louis laughed loudly and sat down beside Niall. "But he asked me. And I've liked him for so long, Niall, I didn't think it would ever happen! But then he just asked me, out of the blue, on my birthday."

"How did he ask?"

"Harry came to Doncaster for my birthday, oddly enough. He told me he wasn't going to be able to make it. Something about Liam coming back from somewhere that day and they needed to go emergency Christmas shopping. But he was there anyway and it confused me, but we spent the day together and at the end of the night he asked me and it was cold and he held my hand and-" Louis cut himself off with a goofy smile. "I'm really happy."

"I can tell," Niall said with a laugh. "I'm happy for you, Lou. You two will last a long time, I can tell. The way he looks at you is adorable."

They sat in silence for another moment before Louis gasped. "Good God, Niall! You made me forget why I came down here in the first place! Liam's gonna be so mad!"

"Why would Liam be mad?" the younger boy asked confusedly. "What does this have to do with Liam?"

"He sent all of us out looking around the train for you! He got worried when we left and he still hadn't seen you. I obviously found you and was supposed to bring you straight back but you distracted me, bastard!" Louis shouted. He then laughed to show Niall that he was actually joking. "We can talk about me and Harry later. Let's get you up to Liam."

Louis dragged Niall up through two cars of the train before they found Liam and the others. "I found him!" Louis announced proudly. "Told you I'd find him, Haz." The older boy sat down in between Harry and Zayn.

"You didn't come find me," Liam said with a pout. He pulled Niall down beside him. "I even wore that cologne and everything."

Niall leaned over and sniffed Liam's neck to make sure. "Behind your ears and on your pulse?" Liam nodded proudly. "You did a good job. You smell good."

"And I went out and got you something for Christmas. It's in my bag so I'll give it to you later." Liam looked so proud of himself, Niall couldn't help but lean up and press a small kiss to his cheek. "But don't think that you being all cutesy makes up for you not finding me when you got on the train."

"I was late!" Niall defended himself. "Greg had to bring me to the station, and Greg has never been on time a day in his life. It's a miracle the train didn't leave me. By then I just wanted to sit down. I didn't even think about coming to find you. I just figured I would see you at school."

Liam just shook his head and kissed the top of Niall's head before leaning back against the seat. "So, Zayn, how was your Christmas?" he asked softly. "Did you meet anyone yet?" Niall looked at Liam curiously. Liam whispered in his ear, "Zayn's been dying for a girlfriend. He claims he hates being the single one."

"No one at home," Zayn sighed. "Christmas was okay. I got a new broom and a couple of books." He paused for a moment. "Niall, do you know a Hufflepuff called Perrie? Perrie Edwards?"

Niall thought for a moment before answering. "I've heard of her, yeah. I've never actually talked to her, though. She seems nice. She's got a lovely group of friends, I know that."

"Yeah," Zayn muttered to himself. "Would it... Would it be too much if I asked for you to talk to her for me? You can say no if you don't want to, I just..."

"Zaynie's a bit shy," Harry admitted. "He needs a bit of help when it comes to the ladies."

"Yeah, so did you!" Zayn shot right back. He still had a blush on his cheeks. "Could you talk to her, Niall? If it's not too much?"

"I'll talk to her," Niall found himself answering. "Might even make myself a friend besides you lads."

"Just don't get too friendly," Liam said possessively. "Remember, she's Zaynie's."

"I'm gay, babe, but thanks for the tip." Niall kissed his cheek.

-

Niall wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to go about talking to Perrie. He had no idea how to start a conversation with her. He knew that she had some interest in singing, for sometimes he could walk out into the common room and see her and Jade (one of her mates) putting on a mini concert for the Hufflepuffs. (They were actually pretty good.)

Could he just walk up to her in the commons? What was he even supposed to say? Make friends with her and then ask about Zayn? Niall was confused. He could see Perrie standing in the common room with Jade. They were obviously catching up from over Christmas break. This could wait a bit, right?

No, he had to do it now. If Niall was ever going to get up the strength to do it, it would have to be now. Niall steeled his nerves and walked over to where Perrie and Jade were standing in the back corner. "Perrie?" he asked softly. The girl looked over at him confusedly. "I'm Niall, Niall Horan. Can I talk to you?"

Perrie nodded and waved goodbye to Jade. "Hey, I know you!" she said excitedly. "You're Liam's boyfriend!"

Niall smiled happily. At least she didn't try and insult him. "I am, thanks. But that's not what I'm here to talk about. Do you know Zayn Malik?"

Perrie nodded. "He's a Ravenclaw, right? One of Liam's friend? Always has his hair up in that quiffy thing?"

"That's him," Niall confirmed. "Okay, I really, really bad at this. But do you like Zayn? Like even in the slightest? Maybe just even as a friend?" He knew his cheeks were flushing. He felt embarrassed that he was even bothering Perrie with all his ramblings. "Yeah, I'm sorry, I'll just leave you alone now."

"Niall, wait!" Perrie called as he tried to walk away. "Please! That was a weird way to ask me something. But Zayn's pretty cool, yeah? I've got nothing against him. Why do you ask?"

"I think Zayn likes you," Niall said quietly. "And I know that might be little weird for me to tell you, but I think he does. And I think he'd really like it if you talked to him."

Perrie smiled at Niall. "I'll talk to him. He seems really cool anyway, and he isn't hard on the eyes. Thank you for telling me." She paused. "And don't be a stranger, yeah? You can come sit with me and the girls any time. We notice that you don't have many friends."

"Thanks, Perrie," Niall said with a genuine smile. "I'll remember that."

-

Niall found himself sitting by Liam's side at the end of the Hufflepuff table that evening. Louis, Harry, and a nervous Zayn were sitting on the other side of the table. "So, Niall..." Zayn started to say.

"I talked to her. She didn't outright say whether or not she likes you, but she did say she'll talk to you. I think you should focus on that," Niall told him. Zayn looked up at him with an excited face. Niall could see the hope in his eyes.

"So I could go down there and talk to her and she wouldn't slap me in the face and call me creepy?" Zayn asked hopefully.

"Just go talk to her," Niall said with a laugh. Zayn stood up slowly and made his way down the table to where Perrie and Jade were sitting. He then turned his eyes back to Liam to give Zayn a bit of privacy.

"Thank you for doing that for him," Liam whispered. "I know it was tough for you, but Zayn deserves to be happy. He's put up with us lads and our infatuations for years. He needed someone."

"It wasn't any trouble," Niall mumbled. "Perrie even invited me to sit with her and her friends sometime. I told her I might take her up on that offer."

"Good." Liam nodded. "I hate to say it, but you do need more friends that me and the lads. If you don't, we might become quite boring."

"I believe you're right." Niall nodded. He turned his eyes to Louis and Harry who were giggling to each other across the table. "Don't they look cute?" he whispered.

Liam looked at his friends and shrugged. "I don't know so much about them, but I know you look cute. I'm glad you left your hair like this. It makes you look ten times cuter."

Niall blushed profusely. "I'm not as cute as you make me out to be, Li. You try to make me like a baby penguin or something."

"You are," Liam said cheekily. "You are the cutest thing I've ever laid my eyes on." He leaned down and kissed Niall's shoulder softly.

"Guys!" Louis whined. "I'm trying to eat. You're going to make me throw up here!"

"Oh, shush, Lou," Niall said in a patronizing tone. "You two were being just as disgusting. If not more. New couples are always the most disgusting."

"You told him?" Harry asked suddenly. He looked at Louis, puzzled.

"Yeah?" Louis asked in the same tone. "You never said we weren't going to tell anyone, so I told Niall. He's my friend."

"I'm not upset. Just a bit surprised. Uh..." Harry trailed off for a moment then looked at Liam. "Liam, Louis and I are together. Like, together together."

Liam actually laughed. "Mate, I was waiting for the day you would tell me that. I've been watching you two fall all over each other for the past year at least."

Harry just huffed and wrapped his arms around Louis. "Well, I've got him now and I don't plan on letting him go any time soon."

Zayn slid back down on the bench next to Niall and brought him into a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he mumbled. "I've got a date with Perrie on Valentine's Day. Out on the Hogsmeade trip. But she said she'll meet me out one day when we have the same free period and we'll go on a walk and get to know each other."

"It was no problem, Z," Niall said while he hugged him back. "Perrie's a good girl. You two will work out."

Zayn hugged him tightly one last time before letting go. "Still. Thank you."

-

Liam spent the night in Niall's room. After they had showered, Liam had pulled Niall down onto the bed and into his chest. "What you did for Zayn today was amazing," he mumbled softly. Niall could feel Liam's breath ghosting over the back of his neck.

"It wasn't," Niall whispered back. "Anyone would have done it for a friend. Besides, Zayn puts up with four gay guys. He deserves to have someone of his own."

"I don't think I'm gay," Liam whispered. He kissed the back of Niall's neck. "I think it's just you. It's always been just you. It'll always be just you."

Niall rolled over so he was facing Liam and pulled the older boy into a soft kiss. "I love you so much, you know that?" Niall whispered so softly, he wasn't even sure if it came out of his mouth at all.

"I love you too, baby. So much." Liam whispered right back. He pulled his younger boyfriend into another soft kiss before they both fell asleep.


	10. ten

All Niall could really think about is how this is the most ridiculous idea he had ever heard of.

The Care of Magical Creatures professor was giving them actual, tiny baby dragons to take care of. She was giving students baby dragons. And they had to take care of them for two weeks! She wasn't even letting them keep them outdoors with the other creatures. No, they had to be kept with the students and brought to classes and such. Niall was going to die.

Things could have been worse, though. When Professor Grubbly-Plank announced that she was going to put them in partners, Liam had immediately grabbed Niall and refused to be paired with anyone other than his boyfriend. Niall's cheeks were flushed, but the professor agreed that they could be paired together.

"What are we supposed to even do with this little guy?" Niall groaned as he looked at the little dragon in the palm of his hand. "How do we take care of him?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Liam asked, just as confused. "What do dragons even eat at this size? Our fingers?"

"You can come back every two days and get more food for your dragon," Professor was saying. "As for taking care of it in any other ways, well, you have to figure that out yourselves." She walked around and gave out the first two days worth of food. "Remember! You must keep the dragons with you at all times. I've already cleared it with all your other teachers. Just don't let them blow anything up." On cue, the dragon in Niall's hand coughed out a bit of fire.

"Great," Liam groaned. "This is going to be fun. It's like our own baby that can kill us."

"Cheer up, LiLi." Niall tried his best to stay positive. "We'll be fine. As long as we don't kill it. Or as long as it doesn't kill us, but it's just a baby. I don't really think it'll kill us. Can we name it?"

Liam sat down on the ground next to Niall and looked at the little dragon in his boyfriend's palm. "How are we even supposed to tell if it's a boy or a girl? It just looks like a little dragon."

"It is a little dragon," Niall insisted. "We don't have to name it based on gender." The younger boy suddenly gasped. "Oh! Can we name it Fluffy! Please! It looks like a Fluffy."

"If you want, baby," Liam said hesitantly. "Fluffy the dragon. It does look kind of cute."

Niall ran his finger down the back on the small animal. "Do you want to hold him? He won't bite, I swear. Just don't stick your finger too close to his mouth." There was a small grin on Niall's face. He slowly placed the dragon down in Liam's hands.

"He is kind of cute." Liam ran his hand down the animal's back, too. "Where is he supposed to sleep? Your room or mine? And what about the couple of classes we have different? What do we do with him then?"

"Just pass him off," Niall suggested. "He can take turns staying in our rooms and take turns going to class with us. He can't be that difficult to take care of."

Niall picked up one of the small pieces of meat that Professor Grubbly-Plank had given them for the next two days. He held it in between two fingers and guided it toward the dragon's mouth. Fluffy leaned forward a bit and wobbled on his two legs before sniffing the meat. He then leaned forward and snatched the meat out of Niall's fingers.

"Hungry little bugger, you are," Liam noted. He grabbed another piece of meat. "Can I feed him this time?" he asked Niall.

"He's your dragon too, love." The younger boy laughed. "You don't have to ask for permission. Just feed him. He already likes you, I can tell."

As Liam moved the meat toward Fluffy's mouth, the dragon didn't even bother on expecting it this time. He gobbled it up just as he did before and then proceeded to plop down on Liam's hand as if he were full.

"He's cute," Liam finally admitted. Niall laughed and kissed his nose softly.

"But not as cute as you."

-

At lunch, Niall found out that taking care of a dragon was a bit harder than he had originally thought. He and Liam had received the most cuddly dragon in the history of the world. Fluffy loved trying to burrow down in Niall's pockets or even trying to climb up his shoulders into his hair. Were all dragons this affectionate? Niall didn't think so.

The younger boy leaned his head against Liam's shoulder and sighed. "I think Fluffy is going to want to sleep on my pillow with me or something. I thought dragons were supposed to be mean."

"Apparently not," Liam answered softly. They were watching as their dragon carefully watched Louis and Harry's, as if he was waiting on the other to attack. Although the two dragons should have been frightning, they fit in the palm of one's hand and waddled when they walked, and thence made it a bit difficult to look scary. They just looked cute as they watched each other.

"So did you name yours?" Louis asked casually. He leaned forward a bit out of Harry's arms and pet their dragon softly. "We still haven't come up with a name for ours. It's a bit hard naming a dragon."

"Fluffy," Niall answered proudly. "We named him Fluffy. Although, we aren't entirely sure it's a him, but close enough. His name is still Fluffy."

"How could you even think of naming a dragon Fluffy?" Louis asked in an amused tone. "I thought dragons were supposed to be intimidating."

"Well, in the one class I've had alone with him, I think Fluffy is quite possibly the only cuddly dragon in the history of the world," Niall sassed right back. "And he's cute. And LiLi agreed that we could name him Fluffy, so take that!" The boy huffed and turned back to his food, shoving it into his mouth angrily.

"Sorry, Nialler," Louis mumbled. "I didn't mean to insult your dragon. He just doesn't really look like a Fluffy is all."

Niall huffed and didn't acknowledge Louis's apology. He continued to pick at his food and lean into Liam's side. He still had an angry look on his face.

"Babe, do you have a free period next?" Liam asked softly. "We could go back to your room and play with Fluffy and do a bit of homework. Or we could just cuddle."

"I've got a free, yeah," Niall mumbled. "Can we go back now?"

"Let's wait until lunch is over, okay?" Liam suggested. "I want to talk with Zayn a bit more about his date. I wanna see if maybe he can get to know Perrie before then."

"I was going to see if I could convince her to come take a walk with me after dinner one night," Zayn said immediately. Niall could tell he was happy to be talking this through with someone. "I don't think we have any of the same free periods. Plus a walk after dinner would be a bit more romantic."

"That sounds really nice, Zaynie. Maybe Ni can convince her to come out with you tonight or something?" Liam looked down at Niall for conformation.

"I'd be willing to," Niall agreed. "Or I'd be willing to try to convince her, anyway. She said we could be friends, and what better way to bond over a cute boy?"

"So you think I'm cute, Nialler?" Zayn asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows. "I never would have seen that coming. You better watch your back, Li, or I might accidentally steal your boy."

Liam wrapped his arms around Niall tightly and pulled the younger boy into his chest. "Mine," he growled possessively. Niall laughed lightly.

"I'm not a possession, Liam, but I can promise I won't be leaving you for Zayn. He's got too much hair." The boy made a disgusted noise.

"I'll have you know that people love my hair!" Zayn exclaimed. "The ladies just go crazy for it." To make things even more absurd, Zayn pretended to flip a bit off his shoulder and sighed dramatically.

"That's because you spend forever on it every morning." Harry snorted. "We share a room, I would know. You've always spent forever on it."

"Oh, hush!" Zayn grumbled. "Not everyone can just wake up and shake out their hair and leave."

"We're sorry, Zaynie," Niall said as he laughed. "I love your hair, really. The way it never seems to move when the winds blows. Liam's always flies around."

"And Harry's sometimes flies in my face!" Louis yelled. "Oops, sorry, too loud."

"Thanks, guys," Zayn said gratefully.

Niall leaned up and whispered in Liam's ear, "I still like yours better."

After everyone had finished their lunches, Liam and Niall pulled Fluffy away from Louis and Harry's dragon and carried him down the corridor to Niall's room. "Where's your homework?" Niall asked as he set his bag down. "I thought you said we'd do some homework."

"I said we could do some homework or we could cuddle," Liam corrected. "I would rather cuddle and play with Fluffy a bit. Which do you want to do?"

"Let's see..." Niall trailed off as he searched for his phone to look at the clock. "So this free period is an hour? We could just do homework for a half hour then cuddle and play for the next half hour. Does that sound okay?"

"As long as I can borrow some parchment," Liam said with a shrug. "Everything is in my room, and I don't feel like going to get it. What essays do we have this week?"

Niall thought back on his mountain of homework that was continuing to grow. "Something for Slughorn and another one for Mcgonagal, I think. Surely we have more than that, right? It doesn't sound right to only have those two."

"I think we have a worksheet in Charms," Liam said as he thought back too. "And of course we've got to keep this little bugger alive for the next two weeks." Liam was referring to the little dragon who was now rolling around on Niall's bedsheets, obviously enjoying himself.

"Now that sounds right," Niall confirmed. "So what do you want to start first?"

The two boys began on their half hour of homework, occasionally brushing their hands across each other and stopping to play with Fluffy a bit. They ended up doing less homework than they originally planned, though. Niall figured he could just finish things up that night when Liam went to Quidditch practice.

Liam finally was able to pull Niall between his legs and let the younger boy settle into his chest with the small dragon on top of his own. "Fluffy is actually kind of cute," Liam admitted. "I can't believe I didn't think so when we first got him. He just likes to roll around on top of things and cuddle a lot."

Niall looked down at Fluffy, who was laying on his chest, and laughed a bit. "Yeah, I can't really believe you didn't like him either. How can you not? He's just about the cutest thing in the entire world."

"No, baby, that's you," Liam said with a smile. The younger boy hit his chest lightly. "Ow! Don't hate me because I tell the truth."

"I could never hate you, LiLi." Niall wanted to roll over and give his boyfriend a kiss, but Fluffy was now asleep on his chest and he had no idea how hard the little dragon could sleep. Instead, he settled for craning his head around as far as it could go and placing a small kiss on Liam's chin.

"I love you," Liam whispered. "Can we take a nap?"

Niall laughed loudly in the quiet room. "Sure, babe. We can take a nap. And I love you too, you fool."

-

The younger boy was pretty sure that Fluffy looked bigger when he woke up the next day. How much meat had the little dragon eaten in the past day? Probably at least half of what Professor Grubbly-Plank had given them. He would have to go by her office to pick up more before the day was over.

After Niall had showered and gone through his morning routine (he had to bring Fluffy in the shower with him. The poor baby had some sort of separation anxiety.), he headed to find Perrie at the Hufflepuff table. He hoped that she had already made her way to breakfast so he wouldn't have to look too far for her.

Niall was able to spot her blond hair easily, and he tightened his grip a bit on Fluffy before he sat down beside her. "Hi, Perrie," Niall greeted softly. "How are you?"

"Hi, Niall!" she said cheerfully. "I'm good, how are you? Is this your dragon for Care of Magical Creatures? He's so cute! Jesy has ours back in her room. We named her Luna. Well, actually, we don't really know if it's a she, but it looked like a Luna. Sorry, I'm talking too much, aren't I?"

"No, you aren't," Niall assured her. "I typically don't talk enough. But Luna is a cute name. We decided to name this little guy Fluffy." He placed the dragon down on the table. "Or I decided. Liam just went along with it because I was so excited."

"Do you want to meet Luna?" Perrie asked excitedly as she looked around. "Well, you're going to because here comes Leigh Anne with her! Leigh!" she shouted. "Come here! Meet Niall and Fluffy!"

"Niall?" Leigh Anne asked as she walked toward the table. She, too, had a dragon in her hands. "Liam's boy? Why's he over here? Not that I don't like you, Niall," she said, seeing the confused look on his face. "You seem like a lovely boy, despite what people say. But why are you here? You don't seem to socialize much."

"Niall is going to be our new friend," Perrie answered stubbornly. "Even though I think he came over here to ask me something about Zayn. But I can ignore that because I like Niall."

"I did actually come over here to talk to you about Zayn." Niall blushed. "But Luna looks very cute." Leigh Anne set her down in front of Fluffy so the two could become friends.

"So what did you want to ask?" Leigh asked suspiciously. "And why can't Zayn come do it himself?"

"He's quite shy," Niall defended the older lad. "And he figured I'd probably get along well with her."

"Sorry for Leigh," Perrie apologized. "We've all been a bit cautious of boys since what happened with Jesy and Jordan. Leigh's just being overprotective. But what did you want to ask?"

"Zayn was wondering if you'd be willing to come on a walk with him after dinner one night," Niall explained. "He just wants to get to know you a bit better. Feels like that would make your whole Valentine's Day date a little less awkward and a little more romantic."

"You can tell him that that would be great. Maybe we could even go tonight, if he isn't too busy?" Perrie asked eagerly. "I'm free if he is."

"I'll be sure to tell him," Niall said as he looked down the table. "Do you mind if I sit here for another minute? Liam still isn't here yet. He probably woke up late."

"Not a problem," Perrie answered with a smile. "As long as you don't mind dealing with our dear Jessica."

"I heard my name!" Jesy exclaimed not a second later. She slid down onto the bench next to Leigh Anne and smiled at Niall. "Is this Niall? Liam's boy? Hi, I'm Jesy!"

"Hi, Jesy," Niall greeted in a soft tone. The girl was a bit to take it. She had a thick accent and an intimidating look around her. Still, Niall knew that if Perrie was friends with her, she couldn't be that bad. "Why does everyone call me Liam's boy?"

"Because that's what you are, isn't it?" Leigh interjected. "You wear a jersey of his to all his games, you celebrate with him, and you're always glued to his side. You two are awfully cute together. And I'm not going to believe it if you say that you're just friends. With the way he looks at you, there's no way you're just friends."

"No, we're definitely together," Niall confirmed. "I just didn't know everyone called me Liam's boy." He looked back up a Jesy, who had a friendly smile on her face. "I like your makeup," he complimented.

"Thank you!" Jesy said with a small gasp. "I really love your hair! How did you do it? I've always wanted to dye my hair, but I've never known quite what to use."

"Muggle hair dye," Niall said as he nodded. "If you ever get some, I'll help you dye it. I've been doing it for years now. My brother helped me do this."

"It looks wonderful," Perrie complimented.

Just then, Niall felt a warm pair of arms wrap around his waist. "I knew I'd find you over here," Liam whispered in his ear. Then he said louder, "Hello, girls. I'm sure you were having a simply riveting conversation, but I'm here to steal my boy back. Thank you."

"I'll talk to you later, Jesy!" Niall called as he was dragged away. He grabbed Fluffy before he forgot. "Did you want to see your dragon that bad, babe?"

"I wanted to see my cute boyfriend more," Liam mumbled. "So what was all that about? Did you get to ask Perrie about the walk?"

"She said she could even do it tonight, if Zayn was able to," Niall said with a smile. He gave Liam a small kiss on the cheek. "I even got to meet Jesy. I like her." He paused and looked around for the rest of the boys. "Where is Zayn? I want to tell him the good news."

"Can we just sit here for a moment and enjoy being alone?" Liam whined. "I missed you lots."

"I missed you too, babe." Niall kissed Liam's cheek again. "Now let's eat."


	11. eleven

The usual Valentine's Day trip into Hogsmeade was tomorrow, and Niall still had no idea whether or not he had Liam would be doing anything. His boyfriend hadn't even alluded to the possibility that they would be going anywhere. Niall assumed the day would probably be spent completing homework and napping.

He was sitting in his room alone with his Potions book placed in front of him. He was supposed to be reading over it and studying for some pop quiz he knew Slughorn was going to be giving in the next few days. He had shown them how to make a basic love potion in class, and Niall suddenly hoped that he would never need to use it.

Niall hadn't actually seen Liam very much that day. They had eaten breakfast together and Liam had warned him that he was extremely busy and he probably wouldn't be able to make lunch. Niall had grudgingly agreed and gave Liam a kiss before the older boy had to leave. He hadn't seen his boyfriend since.

Since it was February, Niall had to spend his free inside. He wanted nothing more than to go sit outside and cuddle with Liam. His room suddenly seemed too cold without the older boy. Niall closed his book and pulled the duvet over his body. If Niall had time to feel bad about himself, he had time to take a nap, too.

When Niall woke up, it was time for dinner. He grabbed his phone and looked at the time to see that he had completely slept through Transfiguration. It was over now. Niall sighed to himself and pulled a hoodie over his head before he left the room.

None of his friends were sitting at their usual spot on the Hufflepuff table, so Niall decided that he would just sit with Perrie instead. She, Jesy, and Leigh Anne were all sat in a small group, giggling to each other about something.

"Hey, Perrie," he greeted, sitting on the bench beside her. "Do you mind if I sit here?" Although they had become good friends over the past few weeks, Niall still felt the need to ask before he decided to sit with the group.

"Of course, Niall!" Jesy answered before Perrie could. "You don't have to ask. Where are the boys?"

"I have no clue." Niall shrugged. "I was hoping Liam would be able to make it to dinner, but I have no idea where the rest of the boys are." He paused. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen them all day."

"I'm sure they're around here somewhere," Perrie said distractedly. "Maybe Liam's planning something big for you for Valentine's Day."

"I doubt it." Niall shrugged. "I just planned on catching up on my homework. Valentine's Day isn't anything special anyway. It's just another day." He looked up and Leigh Anne, Jesy, and Jade, who had just arrived. "So how have your lives been, ladies?"

Leigh Anne spoke up first. "I've been quite well, Nialler. I'm still trying to keep away from boys for a while, but that Jordan kid from Slytherin keeps giving me eyes?"

"I say screw him!" Jesy yelled. She then looked bashful when she saw that she had drawn the attention of several people nearby. "Wow, that was loud, sorry. I'm okay too. Just a little bit behind on homework and very sleep deprived."

"I'm pretty much the exact same," Jade agreed.

"I'm really excited for tomorrow," Perrie admitted. "I'm glad you came and talked to me about Zayn, Nialler, because now I've gained a new friend and a potential boyfriend. I really like him."

"He really likes you too, Pez." Niall smiled. "You two are going to be so cute together. I can feel it in my bones."

"Thanks, Nialler." Perrie smiled at him gratefully. "I just want it to be tomorrow already."

"I'm sure Zayn has something great planned," Jesy assured her. "He seems to be quite the romantic."

"He's got something great planned," Niall told her. "I can't say what. All I supposed to tell you is to wear something cute and warm, but no matter what you wear you'll have him drooling."

Niall finally started eating after he had finished acquainting himself with the girls. His friends steadily fell into a conversation while he ate quietly, only listening to what they had to say. It wasn't exactly that he was disinterested. Niall just preferred to listen to the girls random mumblings and occasional singing.

By the time he had had his share of food, not Liam nor the boys had arrived in the Great Hall. Niall hung around for another few minutes and chatted with the girls before he left back for his room alone. He was slightly upset that he hadn't seen his boyfriend since breakfast, but Niall tried to ignore it.

When he got back to his room, Niall pulled on a sweatshirt that still smelled like Liam and opened his Transfiguration book in hopes to learn whatever he had missed. He really should have asked someone about that.

Niall spent roughly two hours working on his homework before he decided to call it quits and go to bed. He missed having Liam's warm presence behind him as he fell asleep.

-

He really wasn't sure why he was awake. It was still dark outside, and Niall was blinking the sleep out of his eyes. What had woken him up?

"Sorry, baby boy," a voice mumbled through the dark. "Go back to sleep." Niall sat up in his bed.

"LiLi? What are you doing here? What time is it?" Niall sat up and rubbed at his eyes, trying to see Liam through the dark. He felt Liam's weight on the side of his bed and an arm dragged him back down into a laying position.

"I missed you. It's just after midnight. I'm sorry for waking you up. I've been so busy all day and I just sat down about a half hour ago and thought 'I haven't even seen my boyfriend all day. How shitty am I?' so I decided I would come see you. Where's your phone? I need you to set an alarm for us so we'll wake up in the morning. I have a surprise for you." Liam spoke so softly and so quickly, Niall had a hard time processing what he was saying.

"It should be on the floor somewhere. What time do you want me to set it for?" Niall was greeted with the brightness of his phone screen as Liam handed him his phone.

"Probably about eight thirty? So we'll have enough time to get ready and eat breakfast and lie around a bit. Yeah, eight thirty sounds pretty good." Liam sounded like he was talking more to himself than he was to Niall. The younger boy set the alarm and handed the phone back to Liam, who placed it back on the floor.

"I'm sorry for waking you up, baby boy," Liam whispered as he pulled Niall back into his chest. "Let's go back to sleep, yeah? I love you."

"I love you too, LiLi," Niall mumbled as he fell back to sleep, this time with Liam's warm arms wrapped around him.

-

Niall woke up the next morning to an annoying beeping and Liam mumbling in his ear. "Lemme just grab the phone," he was mumbling. Liam leaned off the bed and grabbed the phone. "Can you turn it off? I still don't know how to use this thing."

He nodded and grabbed the phone from Liam's hand. He turned off the alarm quickly and fell back into the bed. "We get the day off. Why do you want me up so early?"

"I told you I had a surprise," Liam said as he climbed off the bed. "Do you want to shower together? If not, I can stay out here and pick out your clothes for today. In fact, I'll probably bit out your clothes anyway. Nothing fancy, of course, but warm enough. We're going to have an awesome day, I promise." He kissed Niall's forehead and pulled him off the bed.

"We can shower together," Niall agreed. "But I'd really like to know about this surprise."

"I really can't tell you, baby." Liam laughed. "All I can say is that I love you and I really hope that you'll enjoy it." He gave Niall a soft kiss on the forehead and led him into the bathroom. "You're so beautiful, you know that?" Liam pulled the sweatshirt off of Niall's body and stared at the boy's pale chest. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, LiLi." He gave his boyfriend a small kiss before pulling off Liam's own tank top. "I don't know why you're always making a fuss about me being beautiful. Have you ever seen yourself?" He ran his hand down Liam's chest. "Dunno how I ended up with you. You're the beautiful one."

Liam settled his hands on Niall's hips and smiled down on him. "I'll let you believe whatever you want then. As long as you know that no matter what you're still the most beautiful thing in my eyes." He tried to lean in and give the younger boy yet another sweet kiss, but Niall pushed him away, laughing.

"You ridiculous sap!" he yelled, gasping as he laughed. "Take your pants off and get in the shower. I can deal with anymore of your fluffiness."

"It's Valentine's Day!" Liam protested, but he did as Niall told him. He stripped off his boxers, stepped into the shower, and turned on the water. "I was just trying to tell you how much I love you!"

"You don't need to be a complete sap to do that," Niall assured him. "Just kiss me and let me wear your clothes and make me pancakes. That's only way to my heart."

"I'll be sure to remember that." Liam pulled Niall into the shower with him and kissed his cheek. "Next time we get a break, you're coming back to my house. I want you to meet my parents and see more of the magical world."

"That's not gonna be until summer, though." Niall frowned. "You wanna stay together over summer? Most people think that's just a recipe for disaster. We don't exactly live close to each other, Li."

"I love you," Liam blurted immediately. "And that's why I want to stay together over the summer. I want to stay with you for the rest of our lives. If you'll let me, that is."

"As long as you want me," Niall whispered. He hugged Liam tightly and pulled the boy under the water with him. "You know I love you lots, right? I don't want to break up. I'd like to stay with you forever."

"Good." Liam's smile was so big, Niall thought that it would split his face. "Can I wash your hair?"

Niall stepped out of the water so Liam could wash his hair. He loved when the older boy washed his hair for him. Liam had wonderful fingers and always did a thorough job through Niall's hair. The younger boy was in heaven as Liam worked the shampoo through his hair.

"Where did you learn how to do this?" Niall moaned out. "Your fingers are heaven, I swear."

"My fingers can do other things too," Liam answered cheekily. "Wanna try it out?"

"No!" Niall said with a laugh. He reached back and hit Liam's chest. "I wanna be cute right now and see this surprise you've made. Don't get me all horny now. Maybe we can do something later."

"Is that a promise?" Liam asked in the same cheeky tone.

"Just wash my hair," Niall grumbled. "We can't take much longer or else we'll miss breakfast." Liam proclaimed that he was done, and Niall stepped under the water to wash the shampoo out of his hair. "On your knees, pretty boy," he told his boyfriend.

They finished their shower quickly, and Liam picked out Niall's clothes for the day. It turns out that Liam had brought clothes with him when he sneaked in the night before. He spent time picking out Niall's outfit, trying to pick things that were warm enough that his boyfriend wouldn't freeze.

"Can we go to breakfast now?" Niall whined. "I'm hungry."

"We can go," Liam confirmed. "But on the way back I've got to stop back at the kitchen and get something for your surprise."

"I would still like to know what this surprise is, LiLi." Niall poked at Liam's tummy to hear the older boy's laugh. "Please tell me?" He pulled out his special occasion puppy dog eyes, making Liam groan.

"Nope. I can't even look at you. Please don't pull those on me. I love you, Niall, but I can't tell you. It'll make all my hard work from yesterday go to waste." Liam pouted down at Niall. This time the younger boy groaned.

"Okay, I'll stop begging," he surrendered. "But can you tell me about Zayn and Perrie's date then? I wanna know what they're doing!"

"He's taking her to Madame Puddifoot's Tea Shop for some tea and then they'll be walking around Hogsmeade together," Liam informed him. "Yesterday we sneaked out and helped set up a few things in Hogsmeade. We put up a bunch of paper hearts and made the entire thing look romantic. You're going to love it, I swear."

"Is this part of my surprise?" Niall asked cheekily. Liam's jaw dropped when he realized that he had given away part of the surprise.

"Nope, nope, not at all." Liam shook his head rapidly. "Let's just go to breakfast and forget about everything that happened just now. Shall we?" He didn't hesitate to grab Niall's hand and began to pull him down the hall.

"I'll forget about it if you want me to." Niall laughed. "Let's go on to breakfast. I'm hungry." They entered the Great Hall and made their way to the Hufflepuff table where Louis, Harry, Zayn, and Perrie were already sitting. Niall was surprised to see Perrie sitting with them, but before he could ask any questions, Perrie spoke up.

"I figured I should sit with Zayniekins this morning before we go out. I wanted to see the rest of his friends." She pinched Zayn's cheek and looked up at Liam. "Hello, Niall's attractive boyfriend."

"Hi, Perrie," Liam greeted. He sat down on the bench next to where Niall had sat. "How are you?"

"I am very excited for my date with Zaynie." Perrie had a huge smile on her face. Niall took note of the fact that every time she mentioned Zayn's name, the boy would look down at his hands and a blush would cover his tan cheeks. Niall thought it was cute.

"Haz, what are you and Lou doing today?" Niall asked softly. "Are you going out too? LiLi's got a surprise for me. I thought I was just going to be stuck in my room all day doing homework."

"Awe, I wouldn't let you do that, baby." Liam laughed a bit. "Even if you were stuck in your room doing homework, I'd be there with you."

"Sap." Niall hit his boyfriend's chest lightly and laughed.

"Are we doing anything, Haz?" Louis asked excitedly. "I wanna go into Hogsmeade and get some butterbeers and maybe muck around a bit."

"That sounds good to me, babe," Harry agreed. "I'm always up for some butterbeer."

"Oh come on, boys!" Perrie groaned. "It's Valentine's Day. You could at least do something romantic!"

"We are romantic!" Harry defended them. "We're just romantic in a different way. Cuddling and butterbeers is enough for me. And we're gonna sit behind some bushes and make out if that makes it any more romantic."

Perrie laughed. "That makes it loads more romantic. Can we make out behind some bushes, Zaynie?" She asked this a laugh and looked over at Zayn. The boy was staring at her with awe and a blush on his cheeks.

"I-If you want to, I guess." He sounded stunned.

"I was just joking, silly." Perrie laughed loudly and pinched one of Zayn's cheeks again. "Don't look so embarrassed, but you're cute when you blush." Zayn blushed once again. She kissed his cheek.

Niall coughed awkwardly and leaned into Liam's side. "I still want to know what the surprise is. I'm insanely impatient, babe," he grumbled at Liam.

"And you'll find out within the next hour, baby. Haz, what time is it?" Liam immediately turned his eyes from Niall to Harry, who was the only one wearing a watch.

"Almost time for the carriages to arrive, if that's what you want," Harry informed him. "You ready to go, Lou?"

"I think it's about time for all of us to head out, actually," Liam said as he looked down at Niall. "Are you finished, baby? We need to go if we're going to be one of the first to get there."

"I'm ready when you are," Niall confirmed. Liam stood from the table and grabbed at Niall's hand.

"We'll see you guys later, then. Maybe we'll all be back by dinner?" Liam tried to tell their friends goodbye, but the two couples were wrapped up in each other. "Well. Off we go then, Ni. We've still got to drop by the kitchen first, though." Liam pulled him out of the Great Hall and down the hall to the entrance of the kitchen. "Wait here. This'll only take a second."

Niall leaned back against the wall and waited for Liam to come back. His boyfriend was true to his word; it was only a moment before he returned with a basket in his hands. "Part of your surprise," Liam informed. "Now we have go or else we're going to be late."

The younger boy laughed and let Liam pull him out of the castle to the carriages. "So we're going into Hogsmeade, then?" Niall asked eagerly.

"I suppose," Liam said casually. "But you still don't know what we're doing before lunch, at least. I still like to keep some things a surprise."

"Well, let's go then!" Niall said excitedly. With Liam's help, he climbed up into the carriage and sat down. Once Liam had sat down as well, the carriage was off to Hogsmeade.


	12. twelve

Hogsmeade looked beautiful. It was all red, white, pink and beautiful. "You guys did all of this?" Niall gasped as soon as he saw it.

"Most of it," Liam admitted. "We had some help from the locals, too. That's why we were gone all day. I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" Niall looked at him confusedly. "This looks amazing! Think of how many couples you guys are going to make happy."

"I missed you, though." Liam pouted and pulled Niall into a hug. "I wish I could have spent all day with you. We should just go back to the castle now and go to your room and eat this food. It's warm there."

"You've got this big surprise for me, though," Niall said cheekily. "I really wanna know my surprise."

"Alright." Liam finally sighed. Their carriage stopped in the center of Hogsmeade, and Liam helped Niall down. "So, we're going to go into Madame Puddifoot's for tea and cookies, then we're going to have a picnic lunch, and then we might go get a couple of butterbeers and kiss a little. Maybe we can go back to your room and you can see just what I can do with my fingers." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Maybe." Niall laughed. "Let's just see how awesome this date goes, okay? I don't normally let boys get me off on the first day." He had a cheeky smile on his face.

"I'll have to make sure this is amazing now." Liam frowned. "I'm pretty sure it's going to be awesome anyway. Let's go."

Niall held Liam's hand tightly as they walked down the streets. There was leftover snowfall still on the streets. He thought that everything looked beautiful, but Liam looked the best. He was wearing a simple sweatshirt and jeans, but he still looked amazing. His hair was pushed up off of his forehead. Niall wanted to run his fingers through it.

"You know you aren't supposed to be staring at me, right?" Liam asked softly. "Hogsmeade looks amazing, and you won't stop staring at me."

"My boyfriend looks beautiful." Niall shrugged. "How do you not expect me to stare at you? I just want to run my fingers through your hair."

"I spent like five minutes on my hair!" Liam whined. "Don't mess it up!"

"If this date goes well, I'll be messing it up tonight." Niall winked, making Liam flush. They finally reached Madame Puddifoot's Tea Shop, and the younger boy moved to open the door, but Liam reached it before him. Niall pouted as he walked through the door.

"What do you want, baby?" Liam asked as he approached the counter. Niall thought for a minute before he decided.

"Peppermint tea?" he asked softly. "And then whatever kind of cookies you want. It doesn't matter."

"Okay," Liam agreed. "Why don't you go pick a table and I'll bring the stuff over? This place is probably going to get very crowded very quickly." Niall nodded and left to sit at one of the free tables.

He found a table by one of the windows in the front and sat down. He stared out the window at all the other happy couples that were beginning to file into town. Niall thought he could see Perrie and Zayn climbing off of the carriage. He turned his eyes back to Liam, who was just sitting down at the table.

"Your peppermint tea, my love," he said as he passed the beverage to him. "And I got some chocolate crinkle cookies? They aren't really meant to go with tea but they are amazing."

"I think I've had them before." Niall nodded. "But all chocolate cookies are amazing. I trust you." He took a sip of his tea and smiled happily.

"How's your tea? I've never had peppermint tea before," Liam asked him softly. They were holding hands over the table, and Niall couldn't help but smile.

"Do you want a sip? It tastes wonderful. I think this is some of the best I've ever had." He handed his cup over to Liam who took a sip.

"That is pretty good," Liam agreed. "I think I like my Earl Grey better though." The older boy let out a little giggle, making Niall smile.

"You're very cute," Niall whispered. He leaned forward and picked up a cookie, taking a bite and choking on the powdered sugar. "That was too much. Oh my God, I'm going to die," he said through coughs.

"Take a sip of your tea!" Liam said in a worried tone. "Are you okay?"

Niall finally calmed down enough to take a sip of his tea and not choke. "I'm fine. I just don't need to inhale when I try to eat these, I guess?"

"Please don't." Liam had a frown on his face. "That scared me. Drink more of your tea, please?"

"I'm fine, LiLi," Niall promised. To prove it, he took a bite of the cookie and chewed it without choking. "See?"

"Just... be careful?" Liam asked with his famous puppy dog face. Niall nearly melted at the cuteness of his boyfriend.

"I will, LiLi," Niall promised. "Don't be a worry wort. I'll be fine." He sipped on his tea and ate a cookie to prove that he was really okay.

It was another few minutes before Niall and Liam had both finished their tea and cookies. "You wanna go walk around?" Liam asked as he stood up. Niall nodded and stood up too. They returned their cups and left the shop hand in hand.

The streets were nearly full of couples from Hogwarts now. Niall had no idea that there were this many couples at the school, but what did he notice?

"Are you okay, baby?" Liam asked softly. "You zoned out for a moment. Your eyes went all foggy." Liam looked concerned, but he also looked like he was trying to hide it.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Niall nodded. "I was just thinking about how I wasn't aware that there were so many couples at Hogwarts. So many people are here."

"It's always like this," Liam said without thinking. Niall looked up at him and frowned.

"You've been here on Valentine's Day before? Like, with someone?" Niall asked curiously. He tried his best not to let the jealousy show on his face. It did make him a bit angry to think about Liam being with anyone else.

"Once," Liam said carefully. "In fourth year with Danielle Peazer. The whole date was incredibly awkward, and her hair kept flying in my face because it was windy. We went out like one more time before we mutually decided that we weren't really supposed to be together. All the times after that, I just came with the lads. We used to come out and make fun of all the couples. I guess we really can't do that now." Liam had a smile on his face,

"Okay." Niall nodded. "I'm over my moment of jealousy. Let's go walk around a bit." He took hold of Liam's hand and pulled him through the streets of Hogsmeade. They walked slowly, admiring all the decorations and the leftover snow throughout town.

They walked out of town a bit, and Niall had no idea where he was going. He looked up at Liam to see if his boyfriend knew where they were going. Liam didn't look confused, so Niall tried to look forward and figure out where they were going.

Finally, Liam took a turn and stopped. "You okay?" he asked Niall softly. "You don't need to stop and rest or anything, do you?"

"I'm fine, LiLi," Niall agreed. "Where are we going?"

"There's a clearing a few feet from here. We can sit there and eat lunch, and then maybe go to The Three Broomsticks for some butterbeer. We can go back to Hogwarts after that." Liam was leading Niall through the woods to the clearing.

They stepped through an opening in the trees, and Niall gasped. The area was decorating just as Hogsmeade was. Balloons were tied to trees and paper hearts were everywhere. "Did you guys do this?" Niall asked softly.

"Wanted to make it special," Liam said with a blush. "Is this okay? Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful, LiLi." Niall stood up on his tiptoes and kissed his boyfriend softly. "Absolutely stunning. You didn't need to go to all this trouble for me, though."

"I wanted to," Liam assured him. "You're worth the trouble, believe me. Let's sit down and eat, then, yeah?" He opened the picnic basket that he had been carrying and pulled a blanket out of it. He laid down the blanket and looked at Niall. "Sit down, love."

Niall sat down and looked happily at Liam. "So this is why you had to go by the kitchen?" he asked softly. The lilac haired boy watched as Liam pulled food out of the basket.

"I had the house elves make us food, yes." Liam nodded. "It wasn't that hard to convince them, actually. All I did was ask nicely. They loved to serve people, oddly."

"So I've heard," Niall said as he eyed the food. "I don't think I've ever seen a house elf. I've heard of them and seen pictures of them, but I've never actually seen one."

"We have one," Liam responded softly. "Of course it's not like we treat her badly. Mum feeds her and treats her well. I don't like acting like she's below me."

"What's her name?" Niall looked down at the food that his boyfriend had placed out. He waited for Liam to pick up a sandwich before he picked up his own.

"Okay, don't laugh." Liam had a smile on his face. "Her name is Bubbles! We didn't name her, though. I suppose she named herself."

"Bubbles?" Niall said with a snort. "She sounds very cute, LiLi."

"Oh, she is." Liam nodded. "She was my best friend through a lot of my childhood. She broke it up when my sisters and I fought. I love Bubbles." He groaned at his words. "That sounded a lot better in my head."

"It's cute," the younger boy promised. "You eat first. You were the one to bring the food and set up the date. It's only right for you to take the first bite."

Liam just blushed a bit and took a bite of his own food. "Is it any good?" Niall asked softly. "We don't have a bunch of house elves trying to poison us, do we?"

The older boy nearly choked on his food as he laughed. "That's the real reason you made me eat first, right?" Liam joked. "So I would die and you won't?"

"That's not it at all," Niall said cheekily. He then took a bite of his own sandwich. "See? Now we can die in each other's arms/"

"Very romantic," Liam noted. "Now that I know I won't die alone, I can eat."

So the two ate quietly. Every few minutes one of them would speak up to make the other laugh or compliment them. Niall was having more fun with Liam at the moment than he had had with anyone in a long time.

After they finished their food, Liam laid down on the blanket and smiled to himself as Niall laid his head on his boyfriend's chest. "I'm having a great time," the younger boy whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" Liam laughed a bit and ran his hand through Niall's hair.

"Didn't want to ruin the moment. But if you're going to rub anything, rub my tummy. I think I ate too much," Niall whimpered.

"Aw, baby," Liam cooed. "Do you want me to rub your tummy?"

"I think I'll be fine, LiLi," Niall said as he sat up. "Do you wanna go get those butterbeers now? Or do you wanna go back?"

"Let's lay here for a few more minutes, and then we can go back go the The Three Broomsticks." Liam pulled Niall back into a laying position and sighed happily. "I could lay here with you forever."

"I'd like to lay with you forever," Niall said softly. "If only we had food. That would make this a bit better."

"You'd choose food over me?" Liam asked in a joking tone. "I am offended."

"I wouldn't choose food over you. I'd choose you a split second quicker if you had food." Niall craned his head up and kissed Liam's chin. "I love you."

"I love you too." Liam kissed his boyfriend's forehead.

-

Eventually the two boys got off the ground and dragged themselves back into town. Niall was stumbling, tripping over his own feet and giggling into Liam's side. "You know, if I didn't know better," Liam started, "I would say that you were already a bit tipsy. You didn't have anything to drink, did you?"

"Just drunk off you," Niall said cheekily. "I'm just happy. Is it a crime to be happy?"

"Nope. I was just wondering." Liam held the door open so Niall could walk into The Three Broomsticks. It was fairly empty, save a few couples sitting around. "Find us a place and I'll go get some butterbeer. Two for each of us, yeah?"

Niall nodded and kissed Liam's cheek. He walked over to a table as far away from the other couples as he could get and sat down. He played with the hem of his shirt until Liam came back.

"Here are yours, my love." He handed Niall two bottles. "Do you need help opening them?"

"I think I can manage it, LiLi." Niall laughed. To prove his point, Niall popped the top off his first bottle. "See!"

"I see, love." Liam opened his own bottle and smiled. "So have I done well enough to gain a proper kiss at the end of the night?"

Niall laughed softly and took another sip of his drink. "I think you've done well enough to cuddle me to sleep if you want to. I think this is easily the best date I've ever been on."

"I think this is the best date I've ever been on, too." Liam grinned cheekily. "And cuddling you tonight would make it a million times better."

"You are such a sap." Niall laughed again. He took a long gulp of his drink. "This is wonderful. I'm glad you came up with this idea. I forgot how much I love butterbeer."

"I know!" Liam exclaimed. "I wish I could just buy a whole case of it and get it in my room, but a kid tried that once and Mcgonagall did not take it lightly." Niall nearly snorted out his drink as he laughed.

"Seriously? Did he even manage to get it into the castle? Did he get expelled?" Niall was still laughing as he tried to ask his questions.

"She somehow snuck it into the castle. I still don't know how. But a house elf caught it up in her room while he was cleaning. Obviously it wasn't supposed to be there, so the house elf reported it and she got in major trouble. Somehow she's still here, though." Liam finished his story with a small laugh and took another sip of his butterbeer.

"Do you know who she was?" Niall asked curiously.

"Sophia Smith," Liam answered softly. "Have you heard of her? She's a Slytherin and a bad one at that. She likes to start rumors and use people for her own benefit, so I wouldn't believe a word that comes out of her mouth."

"Duly noted." Niall took another sip of his drink. His entire body felt warm. "Anyone else you'd like to warn me about?"

Liam thought for a moment but shook his head. "No one as bad as Sophia. And I've even heard that she has some stupid crush on me. She might try to start some stupid rumor to break us up. Please, please don't believe anything she says."

Niall popped open his second bottle and took a long gulp before he responded. "I won't LiLi. Besides, it's not often I run into Slytherins. I didn't even know who she was."

They sat in silence for another few minutes, allowing both of them to finish their drinks. Once they had finished, both boys got up to throw their bottles away and exit the shop.

"So what do you want to do now? We could go by the joke shop or..." Liam trailed off and looked at his boyfriend for ideas.

"We could go back to my room!" Niall exclaimed eagerly. "Too eager?"

"You're perfect, baby," Liam reminded him. "We can go back to your room for cuddles."

"Or we could do more," Niall said cheekily. "Cuddling is cool too, though."

"You can't just tease me and then say cuddling is alright!" Liam whined. He pulled Niall a bit closer to him and placed a kiss on his lips. "Let's go back to your room, kiss a little bit, and see where things lead, okay?"

Niall smiled and gave Liam another soft kiss. "Okay."


	13. thirteen

Niall giggled as he turned the door knob. His heart already racing, and he turned to meet eyes with his boyfriend who was no longer behind him. He felt two strong grips on his hips, and he shuddered slightly smiling at the familiar touch. "Oh.. There you are." Niall turned his head trying to see the taller boy behind him.

"Did I surprise you, love?" Liam breathed against Niall's neck. Niall nodded his head and opened his mouth to speak, only to be stopped by an unusual prodding through his pants between his cheeks. Niall jumped at the feeling and then soon settled toward the feeling, letting Liam tease him with his firm digits. Feeling himself growing harder from arousal, and knowing Liam was achingly hard as he felt Liam's cock rubbing against him. Niall turned around to kiss Liam sweetly, his eyes fluttering shut as he reaches his hand down to Liam's erection. Niall's chest rose and fell harshly as he palms Liam.

Niall was swiftly lifted up by Liam's strong arms and found himself wrapped around Liam and pressing hot messy kisses against Liam's lips. Liam fell back onto the bed, keeping Niall on his lap.

"I love you, baby," Liam said in between short needy kisses. "So much." Niall smiled brightly against the kiss running his hands up Liam's chest.

"I love you too," he said short and sweetly craving Liam's lips once again. Niall found himself on his back in their plush bed with brown eyes looking at him deeply and intimately. Niall's breath hitched as he felt a large palm against his pants.

Niall wiggled against Liam as he heard Liam hush him. "Baby shhh, let me take care of you yeah?" Niall nodded quietly as he felt Liam undoing his pants. Niall's eyes shut and heart pounding. Niall opened his eyes as he feels a hand reach into his briefs. His eyes met Liam's immediately. Niall blushed and immediately shut his eyes again tilting his head back as Liam's palm runs across the sensitive underside of his head.

"So good baby, so fucking hot., Liam said in a husky raw voice that always makes Niall squirm. "Do you like the way I play with your cock, love?" Niall tried to answer Liam's question but fell weak to his touch, nodding and writhing his cock into his boyfriend's touch.

Liam became achingly hard in his pants and left his lover momentarily as he undressed. Niall whimpered at the loss of ecstasy, looking up before being flipped over and his underwear stripped off of him. Niall grinded himself into the sheets eagerly whimpering and calling for Liam. Before he felt Liam's weight shift and then feeling a cold wet touch around his hole. Niall's body shivered, pulling away slightly before moving back trying to coax himself onto Liam's digit. "Liam I- oh please I-" Niall called out desperately. Liam bit his lip grinning at his boyfriend palming himself as he teased his boyfriend's hole.

Liam pushed his finger into Niall's tight heat achingly slow. Niall moaned loudly burying his face into the sheets rutting himself. Niall felt Liam lift his rear up and long fingers wrapped around his cock. Niall's head spun as Liam added another finger working his way up to three, curling and twisting them perfectly for his boyfriend's pleasure. Drinking in his boyfriend's moans and pleads Liam pushed Niall to the brink, Niall's balls already hurting in need of release. Liam felt a small amount of precum dribble from Niall's cock and hears his boyfriend call out his name.

Liam smirked and pulled his fingers from the boy, holding his other hand still and tight around Niall's sensitive head before fitting his three fingers in slowly and twisting his slicked up hand quickly focusing on the tip, ready to push Niall over the edge. He heard a high pitched moan and strands of curse words as he felt a hot sticky liquid shoot all over his hand. Liam kissed the base of Niall's back letting him enjoy the orgasm rocking through his body, both breathing heavily, their gasps filling the room.

Niall cuddled down into Liam's chest with a large smile on his face. "Well that was fun." He grinned happily. "Can we sleep now? You made me extra tired."

"Part of it was you, love," Liam reminded him. "But yeah, let's sleep. I'm tired too."

And so Liam pulled Niall even closer into his chest, kissed the top of his head, and the two fell into a deep sleep.

-

Niall woke up on the floor the next morning, and he was unable to remember how he had gotten there. Groaning, he sat up and looked at Liam who was sprawled over the bed. His boyfriend was laying on his stomach with arms thrown above his head and his legs in a starfish position. "LiLi?" Niall mumbled. He got up on his knees and poked Liam's side. "Liam James!" he shouted.

Liam jerked in his sleep and groaned. "Niall?" he mumbled as his hands blindly searched the bed looking for his boyfriend. "Where are you, baby?"

"Pick your head out of my pillow and look," the younger boy grumbled. "I'm on the floor, Li, and judging by your position, you might know why."

Liam pulled his head out of the pillow so fast that he got a headrush and groaned. "Well, get off the floor then. I want a cuddle. It's kinda cold up here all alone."

"That's your own fault," Niall grumbled as he climbed back on the bed. "But because I love you and I love cuddles I'm getting back in the bed." He laid down on top of Liam and smiled. "This better?"

"You're crushing me," Liam gasped jokingly. "But don't move. You're very warm."

"You're silly." Niall giggled. "But okay. You're comfy anyway." He laid his head down between Liam's shoulder blades for a moment before groaning. "What day is it?" he gasped.

"Sunday, baby," Liam mumbled. "It's Hogsmeade weekend, remember? I'm not going today. I plan on getting some breakfast, lying here with you, getting lunch, lying here with you, and then maybe going to Quidditch practice with you, of course."

"So you plan on keeping me with you all day?" Niall said before he yawned. "I'm sleepy. I woke up on the floor."

"I remember." Liam grimaced. "I'm sorry about that, by the way. You know I normally don't do that."

"I know." Niall nodded against Liam's back. "I'm not mad. I was when I woke up but that pretty much disappeared the minute I saw you."

"And you call me the sappy one." Liam's body shook with laughter.

"You are the sappy one." Niall rolled off of Liam's body and sighed. "I shouldn't have done that. You are way more comfortable than my bed."

"We need to get up and go to breakfast away," Liam said as he rolled over to look at Niall. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Nope," Niall answered with a frown. "I should probably get a clock, shouldn't I?" He sat up along with Liam and ran a hand through his hair.

"Probably," Liam agreed. The older boy rolled off the bed and stretched high, allowing Niall to watch the muscles in his boyfriend's back. He licked his lips subconsciously and smiled. Liam turned around. "So are you going to stare at me or are you going to take a shower and come to breakfast with me?"

"Brekky!" Niall said excitedly and climbed off the bed. "Do we have to shower first? I wanna go eat," he whined as he wrapped his arms around Liam.

"Do you want to stink down at breakfast?" Liam asked with a laugh.

"Do I stink?" Niall frowned. He unwrapped his arms from Liam's waist and sniffed himself. "I don't think I stink. Do you think I stink?"

Liam frowned too and gave Niall a warm hug. "Baby, I was joking. You smell perfect. C'mon, I know you have a couple of my hoodies in your room. Let's put some on and go to breakfast, shall we?"

Liam walked across the room to Niall's chest and rummaged through it to find two sweatshirts. "Here you are, love," Liam said as he handed one over. He then slipped on over his head and smiled because it smelled a bit like Niall.

"Can we go to breakfast now?" Niall whined as he grabbed Liam's hand. The sleeves of the sweatshirt were so long on his arms that he really grabbed his boyfriend's hand with the end of the sleeve.

"Sure, love." Liam nodded and opened the bedroom door for Niall. They walked down the the Great Hall together with smiles on their faces, barely acknowledging the people around them.

They sat down at the end of the Hufflepuff with their friends. Louis was sitting happily in Harry's lap and laughing with Perrie about something. Zayn and Harry looked to be in a deep conversation about something when Niall and Liam sat down.

Niall grabbed a plate from the stack and began to fill his plate when a female voice came from behind him. "Hi, Liam," a flirty voice said.

Liam turned around to look at whoever was trying to speak to him. "Oh, Sophia," he said unenthusiastically. "Did you need something?"

"I was wondering if you can help me study after lunch," she said sweetly. "I need some help in Charms, and you're supposed to be the best." Niall watched as Sophia twirled her hair around her finger in effort to try and be cute.

"I'm not the best, Sophia," Liam said in a bored tone. "If you wanted the best, you'd get a Ravenclaw. Now seriously, why are you here?"

Niall turned around on the bench and leaned into Liam. Sophia glared at him. "I just want you to help me study, Liam, is that so much to ask? I miss it when we used to hang out."

"Sophia, we hung out once. But if it makes you feel better, we can study during lunch today." Liam looked down at Niall as if to make sure it was okay. Niall nodded sadly and leaned into his boyfriend's side.

"Thank you!" Sophia squealed. Niall felt like flinching at the high pitched noise. "Can I hug you?"

"No. But I'll see you at lunch." Liam waved her off and kissed Niall's cheek. "I'm sorry, baby. Telling her that I would was the only way I could get her off my back. She wouldn't leave us alone otherwise."

"It's okay," Niall answered softly. "You did what you had to do. I'll miss you at lunch, though." The younger boy pouted, and Liam kissed him softly.

"I wish I could just tell her to leave me alone," Liam groaned. "We hung out like once. Why is she so obsessed with me?"

Louis snorted from across the table. "Why are you so obsessed with me?" he mocked. "Ask her that, Payne. I'd love to hear her response."

"I'm not going to ask that," Liam said with a gasp. "I might not like her, but I'm not that mean. I'm not going to be rude to her without a proper reason."

Niall finished filling up his plate and sighed. "Just don't give her a reason to make up a stupid rumor about you or something."

"I won't, love." Liam kissed Niall's forehead and smiled. "I love you, okay? Only you. Even if she decides to make up some stupid rumor."

"I love you too," Niall said softly. He kissed Liam's cheek and smiled.

-

After breakfast, they didn't go back to Liam's room as planned. Instead, Liam dragged Niall up to his own bedroom to grab his broomstick. They then walked hand in hand down to the Quidditch pitch.

"And what are we doing?" Niall asked with a laugh as Liam spun him around. "Did you bring me out here to dance or something?"

"Well, I was going to head to the changing room and see if there was any spare brooms, and I was going to teach you how to fly. But if you don't want to, I'll be happy to dance with you all across the field. I'll even sing for you."

Niall laughed and hugged his boyfriend tightly. "Maybe you should just show me how to fly. We can save the dancing and singing for later."

"I could teach you to dance, too." Liam winked and laughed at himself. "Let's go try to find a broom then. It shouldn't be too hard. They keep some extras around here somewhere."

The older boy led Niall down to the changing rooms and to the storage closet in the back. "Here's one!" he exclaimed as he turned around. "It's not a good one, but it'll be perfect to learn on. Especially if you aren't really planning on flying much."

"I don't know how I feel about this," Niall admitted as they walked back out on to the field. "You're not going to let me fall off or anything, right?"

"You won't get high enough on this broom to fall off, I promise. And we won't go far. And if you do get high enough to fall off, I grab my broom and drag you back down." Liam kissed Niall's cheek softly and smiled. "Now, mount the broom."

"That sounded dirty." Niall giggled.

"Only if you make it." Liam winked, and they both laughed a bit. "Alright, now, very gently push off the ground with your feet. You won't go high, I promise." Just in case, though, he grabbed the front of Niall's broom.

The lilac haired boy frowned slightly, but he jumped off the the ground slightly. Instead of his feet returning to the ground, though, he hovered there above it. "Liam!" he squeaked in a panicky tone. "Liam, I'm flying!"

"You're flying, baby!" Liam exclaimed with a laugh. "How do you like it?"

"I don't know?" Niall's voice still sounded a bit panicky. "It just feels like floating. Can you get on your broom and we fly around a bit?"

"As long as we fly very close to the ground," Liam agreed. "I'd really rather you not fall off and hurt yourself." He let go of Niall's broom momentarily so he could grab his own and mount it. In another moment he was hovering next to Niall. "Anywhere particular you want to fly?"

"Just around," Niall shrugged and wobbled a bit on his broom. "I just want to spend time with you."

"I'm the sappy one." Liam laughed softly. "You're too cute, Ni. I don't think I'll ever get over your cuteness."

"I'm not the cute one!" Niall argued. "You're absolutely adorable."

"I can't even argue with you. You're that cute." Liam smiled at him and flew a bit closer to his boyfriend. "I'd ask to hold your hand but I'm scared you'd fall off."

"I'm not that clumsy!" the younger boy protested. "But it's probably best that you don't hold my hand. I might truly fall off."

"I love you," Liam whispered softly. "You'll never understand how much, but I love you so,

so much."

"I love you, too, LiLi." Niall giggled. "I hope you'll understand how much."

The couple flew around the field slowly for another few minutes before Niall complained

he was too cold to go on. Liam immediately made the boy land and pulled him into a warm hug.

"My teddy bear." Niall laughed. "You're so much better than any teddy bear I ever had. The little stuffed things never hugged me back."

"Well, I'd never let you go if I didn't have to," Liam admitted. "Do you want to go inside, then? We can lay around for little bit before I have to go help Sophia," he shuddered dramatically, "study."

"Maybe I'll bring you some lunch," Niall said softly. He grabbed onto Liam's hand and they began to walk back to the changing rooms. "Since you won't get to eat if you study with her."

"Please," Liam half begged. "I'm afraid she might try to poison me if I eat anything sure gives me."

"I don't think she'd dare kill you, babe." Niall opened the door for the two of them to the changing room. "Wait here and I'll put this up." He ran back to the storage room and practically threw the broom in before running back to Liam. "Back."

"Alright, how long do we have until lunch?" Liam asked uneasily. Niall could tell that Liam really didn't want to go study with Sophia, and he hoped it wasn't an act.

The younger boy pulled out his phone and checked the time. "Another hour," he said softly. "We could walk around a little longer, or we could go back to my room."

"Let's go back to your room," Liam suggested softly. "You look cold, baby."

"I am, a bit," the younger boy admitted. "But if you want to hang out here a bit I'm fine. I can do it."

"No, let's go inside. You're shivering." Liam would not let Niall argue anymore, and he immediately began to herd his boyfriend back to the castle. "I want to cuddle. Can we cuddle?"

"I'm always up for cuddles." Niall laughed. "As long as you're shirtless. Right now, I refuse to cuddle with you if you're wearing a shirt."

"Sounds good to me." Liam grinned and gave Niall a short kiss. "Now get your cute butt back to your room. I am prepared to cuddle."

The rest of the couple's walk back to Niall's room was full of giggles and quiet flirting. The minute they had made it through the younger boy's bedroom door, Niall practically tore off Liam's shirt and collapsed into his boyfriend's chest.

"You're warm," he mumbled as he kissed Liam's chest softly. "Now we cuddle until you have to leave. Lay down."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is not my smut! the smut was written by my lovely friend bootypoppinniall!


	14. fourteen

Niall was not happy when it was time for Liam to leave. The older boy didn't look to happy when he had to climb out of Niall's bed and slid his shirt back on. "You'll bring me lunch in a bit?" Liam asked hopefully.

The younger boy crawled out of bed with him and yawned. "As long as you walk me down the Great Hall I will. I don't want to walk down there by myself. People still scare me."

"I won't hesitate to walk you," the older boy said immediately. "I'll even snog you for another few minutes. I really don't want to deal with Sophia."

"I know, babe," Niall whispered. He leaned up and kissed Liam's lips softly, "but the sooner you meet Sophia, the sooner you'll get to leave."

"True," Liam agreed. "Let's go then."

He held Niall's hand a bit tighter than necessary as they walked down the Great Hall. "Do you want to come say hi to the boys?" Niall asked softly. He raised one hand up to the back of Liam's neck and held it gently.

"I wish," Liam mumbled. He placed a small kiss to Niall's nose. "If I go in there, I'll never come out." He placed a hand on the back of Niall's neck and gave him a long kiss. "I love you so much. I'll see you later okay?"

"I love you too, LiLi." Niall sadly let go of Liam with a small smile on his face. "I'll bring you lunch as soon as I get finished eating."

The younger boy watched sadly as his boyfriend walked away from him and down the hall to the library. Niall sighed and walked into the Great Hall.

"Did Liam already go?" Louis asked as soon as the younger boy sat down. Niall nodded. "I would have thought that he would have at least come and eat a quick lunch first."

"Said if he came and sat down he wouldn't be able to leave," Niall mumbled. He began filling his plate with food as quickly as possible. "I didn't want him to go. Something tells me Sophia's going to try something, but I don't want to be the boyfriend that never lets his boyfriend do anything, right? It's not like I own him."

"That's a good thing to think, Nialler." Louis nodded solemnly. "But it probably would have been better if you went to sit with him. I don't trust Sophia either."

"I'm gonna bring him lunch in a bit." Niall shoved a bit of food in his mouth. "I'm trying to eat fast. Who knows, maybe I'll sit in there with him after I bring it."

"That would probably be best," Harry spoke up. "Sophia is a horrible sneak. I've caught her cheating off of me a time or two. I wouldn't put it past her to try to make Liam fall in love with her some how."

"But Liam loves me." Niall frowned. "Right?"

"He does love you," Louis confirmed. "But like Hazzy said, Sophia is a complete sneak. I've seen her. She'll find some way to get whatever she wants."

Niall continued to eat his food quickly with a frown on his face. "Would it be too clingy if I went and sat while they studied? I really don't want Liam to think that he can't have a life outside me."

"He can have a life outside you," Louis promised him. "Just not with Sophia. Fix him a plate and take it to him and then sit in library with them. I'm sure he'll be happy you showed up. He's probably wishing you're there right now."

"I hope so," Niall whispered to himself. He began to fill the snack bags he had brought for Liam. "Will you come with me, Lou? At least if I chicken out and don't sit with him, I can find another table and we can study or something."

Louis looked back at Harry with a small smile. "I'm going. I have a life outside you."

"Wasn't going to tell you you couldn't, love." Harry smiled softly and kissed his cheek. "Go on. Be a good friend. I'll see you later."

Louis got up and smiled at Harry one more time before accompanying Niall to the library. "You grabbed the food for Liam?" Louis asked softly.

"I hope I got enough," Niall mumbled to himself. "I tried to grab everything I knew he likes, but they didn't have a lot today. Do you think I got enough?"

"I think you got plenty, Nialler," Louis said encouragingly. "Don't worry. Liam is going to appreciate what you're doing. He'll probably even let you sit in his lap while he studies or something equally adorable."

When they reached the library, Niall pushed open the door and hoped that no one could smell the food in his bag. "Now," the younger boy whispered. "Where is Liam?"

"Probably in the back corner," Louis whispered back. "That's a Sophia thing. And a Slytherin thing. I hate sitting in back corners. It's weird."

Niall followed Louis back into a corner in hopes of finding his boyfriend. As soon as they rounded the bookcase, the pair found Liam and Sophia sitting awfully close at the table. The younger boy frowned, but he still continued his walk to the table.

"Hi, LiLi," Niall said softly. Liam looked up at him immediately and smiled.

"Hey, Ni. Did you bring me lunch?" His boyfriend looked eager for the food. "I'm starving."

The younger boy frowned but pulled the food out of his bag. "Here you go, babe. Do you want me to stay a little bit? What are you and Sophia studying?"

Liam glanced over at Sophia for a few seconds more than Niall was comfortable with and shook his head. "You can go, if you want. I think Sophia and me have this about completed. Maybe we can hang out later?"

Niall had a frown on his face before he nodded. "Yeah, I guess I'll go." He began to walk away with Louis following behind him, but the older boy pulled him behind a bookcase.

"We're not actually leaving!" Louis hissed. "We're going to stand back here and watch what they're doing. And if they get any closer, I'm going to kick Liam's ass. You don't deserve to be treated like this."

"Don't hurt him, Lou," Niall whispered. His eyes were glued on Liam and Sophia, who were getting closer by the minute. The younger boy might have been going insane, but he thought that Liam might have been looking at Sophia the same way that he normally looked at Niall.

"That bitch!" Louis gasped. "I'm going to kill her. Let me go, Niall, I'm going to kill her!"

"Why, Lou?" Niall whispered urgently. "What did she do?"

Louis was too busy fuming to reply. His face was red with anger. "I'm going to kill her. Look at them!"

Niall had taken his eyes off of the two for one second so he could see about Louis, and when he looked back at the couple, Sophia had her hand on Liam's neck (in Niall's favorite spot to place his own hand), and they were locking lips.

The younger boy gasped himself as tears filled his eyes. "I-I'm just going back to my room," Niall whispered quietly.

"Nialler, don't leave. You can watch me kick his ass! I'll go do it." Louis started to make his way around the bookshelf, but Niall grabbed his hand.

"Don't hurt him, Lou. I'm just going to go back to my room and hide out for a bit, yeah?" He sniffed and tried to fake a smile. "Just don't hurt him."

"If you don't want me to," Louis caved. "But I'm going to find out what happened. Sophia will be bragging about this no matter what."

"I need to go." Niall turned and ran from the library. He ran back to the Great Hall, sniffing and hoping that Perrie and the girls were still there.

They were. Niall jogged his way over and sat beside them without hesitation, trying not let his tears fall. "Can you guys do something for me? I know it might be a big favor to ask, but I really really need your help."

"Sure, Nialler," Jesy said with immediate concern. "What do you need?"

"Can you please come sit up in the Hufflepuff common room and make sure Liam doesn't come up? I don't think he will, but I really don't want to deal with him tonight." Niall sniffed again deeply and wiped his eyes. "I promise I'll tell you about it later. I just need to get out of here."

"Of course!" Jesy exclaimed. "We'll even walk in a group around you in case that asshole tries to find you. Come on, girls." All the girls stood at once and pulled themselves around Niall. "So can I hit him, Nialler? Whatever he did was horrible and you don't deserve it."

"You don't even know what he did, Jesy." Niall wiped his eyes and tried to laugh a little.

Jade spoke up. "Whatever it was, it was awful and he does not deserve your tears. Don't cry, baba. You're too pretty for that."

Niall leaned his head against Jade's shoulder and managed his best smile. "Thanks, Jadey. You're too wonderful for the world."

"Just doing my job, love." Perrie had situated herself on Niall's other side. Leigh Anne was walking close behind them. Jesy was leading the pack, looking like some sort of mother hen or guard dog.

They walked all the way back to Niall's room without seeing Liam. The boy didn't know whether or not he was relieved or upset over this fact. The girls even walked up to his room with him. "We'll be down in the common room if you need us," Leigh Anne promised. She kissed his cheek softly before walking down the stairs.

Perrie, Jade, and Jesy all kissed his cheek once more before heading down the stairs. Niall sighed and locked his bedroom door just in case.

He would never admit he still fell asleep with Liam's sweatshirt on. He was too ashamed.

-

When Niall woke up the next morning, he had tears still wet on his face. He was vaguely ashamed that he had been crying in his sleep. Liam shouldn't have made him feel like that. Jade was right. Liam didn't deserve his tears.

The boy stood up from his bed and wiped his eyes quickly. Niall ran a hand through his hair and fluffed it up a bit. He then exited his room and hoped that Perrie and her friends were already down at breakfast.

They weren't. Instead, all four girls were standing at the entrance to the common room, daring anyone to come near them. Niall walked over to them cautiously.

"How are you, babes?" Perrie asked softly. She pulled Niall into a tight hug. "Your eyes are all red. Did you sleep last night?"

"Woke up crying," Niall whispered. His voice cracked audibly. "I just want to get classes over with. Can we go to breakfast?"

This time, Jesy and Leigh Anne took Niall by the arms and began to pull him down the hall, glaring at anyone who tried to look at him. Suddenly, the younger boy was incredibly happy that these girls were his friends. He suddenly leaned over and hugged Leigh Anne tight. "Thank you so much," he whispered in her ear.

"You're welcome, Nialler." Leigh Anne laughed softly. "We're just doing what any normal friends would do. Liam is an asshole, honestly. I think Jesy and I should go beat him up. Can we?" She gave him a pouty face and blinked sweetly.

"No way." Niall shook his head. "But if you want to help me do something, you could figure out how to get Muggle hair dye in and help me dye my hair." He fluffed up his lilac hair. "Liam loves this color. I don't know how I feel about it anymore."

"Leave it," Jesy suggested. "If he loves it so much, maybe he'll remember why he loves you and leave that bitch. He doesn't deserve you, but you two do make a damn good couple." Perrie gasped after she had finished and slapped Jesy's shoulder.

"Language, Jessica!" she said with a laugh. "Young ears."

"Niall knows it's true," Jesy joked. "He needs to find someone that will treat him well. Liam is the perfect one if he would just get his head out of his ass."

"I'm afraid he won't," Niall said softly. "Get his head out of his ass, I mean. He seems happy with Sophia. He looked really happy yesterday when they were kissing."

"He'll figure out what he's missing," Jesy insisted. "Either that or I'll smack some sense into him."

"I already told you," Niall grumbled. "No hurting Liam. I don't care what he did. No hurting him."

"You're so nice to that jerk," Leigh Anne mumbled. Niall had barely noticed that they had walked into the Great Hall until they all sat down at the table. He sat down next to Perrie and gave her a soft smile.

"You'll be okay, babes," Perrie whispered. "We'll knock some sense into Liam."

Suddenly, Louis slid onto the bench looking breathless. "I did something bad," he said in an exhale. "I did something really, really bad."

"What did you do?" Niall asked suspiciously.

"I may or may not have slapped Sophia," Louis blurted. "Okay, I did slap her. It wasn't hard, but she was bragging about it in the common room. I was so tired, and I was mad at Liam and I hit her. I shouldn't have, I know."

"Go, Lou!" Jesy cheered and laughed loudly. "I'm glad you did it. Now can I hit Liam?"

"You shouldn't have hit her, Lou," Niall said softly. "Now she's going to be even more spiteful. She's going to hate me even more. She'll steal Liam for sure now."

"Hey!" Louis looked offended. "No one is stealing Liam. We aren't letting that happen. I have no idea what's going on with Liam right now, but he's sitting on the end of the table looking doped." All the girls looked down the table. Niall refused to.

"He looks... upset," Perrie noted softly. "But he also looks happy? What is up?" All the girls nodded along with her statement while also looking confused.

"I want to go talk to him, but I have no idea what to say." Niall finally looked up and down the table to where Liam was sitting. He got up slowly and padded down to the end of the table.

"Hi," Liam said with a soft smile. "I've been looking for you all morning. You didn't come to dinner last night or to my room."

"Do you like her?" Niall demanded.

"Who?" The younger boy couldn't tell if Liam was being cheeky or not.

"Sophia, you dolt. I saw how you looked at her in the library yesterday. I saw how you kissed her." Niall's voice softened. "So just tell me the absolute truth. Do you like her?"

"You saw that?" Liam asked in a hushed whisper. "Niall, I swear, it was nothing. My brain was all foggy, and I had no idea what was going on."

"Don't give me that shit, Liam," Niall spoke harshly. "I've believed you too many times when you've said that. I'm not going to forgive you again. Don't come by my room. I'll give Louis the jersey you gave to me. Don't expect to see me at any other games or anywhere really. Goodbye, LiLi-" Niall's voice caught in his throat. "Liam. Goodbye, Liam."

"Wait, Niall, please!" Liam called. The younger boy forced himself to keep walking and ignore Liam's yells. Instead of going to class like he should have, Niall walked back down the corridor to the Hufflepuff dorms.

He wiped tears out of his eyes as he continued his way down the hall. Niall tried his best to walk quickly and hoped that no one noticed him. He made it back to his room quickly and he locked the door.

Niall finally let the sob out of his chest. His heart ached. Why did Liam treat him like this over and over again? "What did I do to deserve this?" he whispered to himself. "What sort of god did I anger?" Another sob tore from his chest. "I'm a good person," he cried. "I'm a good person."

And so Niall fell asleep once again with tears on his cheeks.


	15. fifteen

Niall woke up later that evening and refused to get up out of his bed. He knew that he needed to get up and begin gathering Liam's things from his room, but he couldn't do it. He didn't want to move from his bed.

But he did anyway. Niall rolled out of his bed and fluffed up his hair before leaving his room. The least he could do was attended his last few classes of the day. He didn't want to see Liam, but it was a risk he had to take.

He pulled the sweatshirt of Liam's over his head and sighed because he knew it would be the last time he would wear it. Some part of him didn't want to let Liam go, but he set the sweatshirt down and tried not to cry.

Instead, Niall went to his trunk and pulled out one of his own sweatshirts over his head. He shouldered his bag of school books and left the room.

The common room was empty as Niall passed through it, and for that he was grateful. He didn't want to face all those people who were probably laughing at him. How stupid could he have been, they were probably asking. How could Niall assume that someone like Liam would love him?

Niall shook his head and sighed. He didn't need to be thinking of this. He didn't need to cry at this point. Liam didn't deserve his tears.

-

The boy stumbled through his last two classes of the day. Niall kept his head down all day and tried not to listen to everything that was being whispered behind his back. He didn't think he could handle it if he were to hear people laughing at him.

Niall had only see Liam once that day, and when he had, the older boy was staring at him. His expression was sad. Niall had to look away immediately.

-

The next day, Niall did not want to get out of bed. But once again, he forced himself to. He threw on his robes and left his room with a small smile on his face. At least if he wasn't happy, he could manage to convince someone he was.

When Niall walked into his bathroom, he saw something unexpected. A rose was placed over his sink. He looked at the flower in confusion. How had it gotten into his bathroom?

Niall picked up the rose and noticed a note on the side of it. I'm sorry was all it read. It hit him that the rose was from Liam. Niall couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. Maybe Liam actually cared after all.

The younger boy walked back out into his room and set the rose on top of his trunk to be dealt with later.

He walked down to breakfast alone and tried not to let the whispers of others get to him. Niall knew that there were people whispering in his direction and laughing at his misfortune. Now Liam was on the market for anyone. Or maybe he was with Sophia. Niall tried not to care.

He sat down with Louis and Harry at the usual place in their table. "Hi, Lou. Hi, Haz," he said softly as he sat down. "Did you have a good night?"

"It was alright, Nialler," Louis said dismissively. "How have you been? I haven't seen you in the past few days. Liam hasn't been bothering you, has he? We warned him not to."

"You didn't have to tell him not to talk to me." Niall shook his head at him. "He left me a rose this morning, Lou. It was in my bathroom. I have no idea how it got there, but it was. All it said was I'm sorry, but I know it was from him. Who else would it be?"

"Niall?" A soft voice said behind him. "Can we talk? Please?"

Niall turned around and made eye contact with Liam. The older boy's eyes were slightly swollen and red. It made his heart ache.

"Not right now, Liam, okay? Prove yourself, yeah? You've put me through too much shit to be forgiven this easily. If you decide to prove yourself, maybe I'll talk to you then. I just can't do it right now. It hurts too much." Niall spun back around on his bench and looked back at Louis. He wiped another tear from his eye.

-

_liam_

_(two days prior)_

Liam sighed as he watched Niall walk into the Great Hall. He really didn't want his boyfriend to go. He wanted to yank Niall away and go back to his room so they could cuddle. Liam definitely didn't want to deal with Sophia.

Yet still he walked down the corridors to the library. Several times he stopped in his tracks and wanted to walk back to get Niall. But he pushed on and continued to the library.

"Hi, Sophia," he greeted as soon as he saw her. Liam was aware that his tone was irritated, but he couldn't apologize. Liam was irritated that he didn't have Niall with him.

"Hi, Li! Can I call you Li?" Sophia asked happily. She was already sat down at the table with her book open and a smile on her face. Liam didn't trust her.

"Don't call me Li." Liam tried not to grit his teeth. "My name is Liam. Can we try to get this studying done as fast as possible? I'd like to get back to my boyfriend."

Sophia scowled for a moment but quickly put a smile back on her face. "Sure! I've only got a few things I need help with, so it shouldn't take too long. Just let me grab my quill and we'll get started." She leaned over the side of her chair, and the next thing Liam was aware of, she was blowing a powder in his face.

"What the hell was that?" Liam nearly yelled as he wiped his eyes. When he finally opened them, Sophia batted her eyelashes, and suddenly things were different. Everything was fuzzy around the edges. Sophia looked a lot more attractive than she did a few seconds ago.

She giggled and batted her eyelashes once more. "Do you feel any different Li?" she asked softly.

"Have your eyes always been this pretty?" Liam blurted. His eyes seemed to be stuck on Sophia's face, admiring her features.

"Hi, LiLi." He heard Niall's voice call from in front of him. Liam looked up to see his boyfriend (he thought?) in front of him. He found himself wanting to look back at Sophia.

"Hey, Ni. Did you bring me lunch?" Liam suddenly looked away from the girl next to him and remembered how hungry he actually was.

"Here you go, babe." Niall spoke with a frown on his face. "Did you want me to stay a bit? What are you and Sophia studying?"

At the mention of Sophia, Liam glanced back over at her and got lost in her eyes for a moment. He then remembered Niall had asked him a question. "You can go, if you want. I think Sophia and me have this about completed." He said this, even though it was a lie in his eyes. "Maybe we can hang out later?"

Liam watched as Niall frowned and for a moment, things stopped looking so fuzzy. His heart ached but he didn't know why. "Yeah, I guess I'll go." He headed back toward the exit of the library.

"Well, now that they're gone." Sophia had a slight scowl on her face as she scooted her chair closer to Liam. "Let's say we get to some actual studying now, yeah?" Her face was closer that it was a second ago. Liam's eyes were on her lips.

They kissed softly for a moment before the haze that Liam was in suddenly broke. "What the hell, Sophia? I've got a boyfriend! What did you slip me?"

"Nothing!" Sophia exclaimed. "I didn't slip you anything! Why don't we try kissing again?"

"No way in hell!" Liam cursed. He pushed himself back from the table, grabbed his bag, and glared at her. "I have a boyfriend, Niall! Shit," he mumbled to himself. "Where's Niall?"

He didn't want any longer before storming out of the library. He walked (or ran, more like) down the corridor to the Great Hall. He threw open the door, panting and searching the room for Niall.

"Where's Niall?" he asked frantically as he walked up to his friends. "I really need to talk to him, Lou. Can you please tell me?"

"Why would you need to talk to him, Liam? We saw everything. It's not like you broke his heart or anything." Louis's tone was bitter and sarcastic. Liam winced.

"I can explain, I promise. And I will. I just need to talk to him first. Can you please tell me where he went?" The boy was begging, and he was just a step from getting down on his knees to beg.

"Look, he went back to his room. But he took the girls with him. I doubt they'll let you go up there, though. So I suggest you don't even try." Louis was glaring at him, but Liam didn't care. He had already turned around and started walking back out of the Great Hall.

He jogged down the hall to the Hufflepuff common room. Liam spoke the password that Niall had told him earlier that day and pushed his way in. Before he could get very far into the common room, Jesy stopped him.

"And what exactly do you think you're doing, pretty boy?" she asked with a firm glare. "Haven't you hurt him enough?"

"Please, Jesy, I really need to talk to him. I need to explain what happened. I know what he saw, and I'd really like to explain." Liam was begging again. He tried to push the tears back from his eyes.

"I can't let you back there, Liam," Jesy said with certainty. "I promised him. And it wouldn't be fair if I let you back there. But can you explain to us?"

Liam shook his head and ran a hand through his already tousled hair. "I want to explain to Niall first. I just want to talk to Niall." He sat himself down in a chair and let out a shaky breath.

A worried Jade sat down beside him. "I'm sorry, Liam. I can tell that whatever happened wasn't your fault. Can you please tell me what happened? I might be able to convince Niall to talk to you if you tell me what happened."

Liam looked around the room at the other three girls, whose eyes were glued on him. He gestured for Jade to stand up and led her out of the common room.

"Okay, so, at lunch I was supposed to go study with Sophia, right? And I thought I'd just be a good person and ahead and do it. But then when I got there she blew this weird powder in my face and suddenly I wanted to kiss her?" Liam phrased it as a question. "And then Niall came and left with the most heartbreaking frown on his face, and I snapped out of it. I have no idea what happened, Jade."

"Sounds like some sort of love potion to me," Jade answered softly. "It really isn't your fault, Liam. But I'm guessing you did kiss her?" Liam nodded sadly. "You've just got to find a way to win Niall back and assure him that it most definitely was not you. It was a love potion."

Liam thought to himself for a moment. "But how do I do that? Niall isn't going to want to listen to me. I've hurt him to many times before. He isn't going to give me another chance!" The boy finally let the sob fall from his chest. Once he let the first sob out, Liam suddenly couldn't stop.

Jade's eyes widened and she immediately wrapped her arms around Liam's broad shoulders. "Shh, babes," she cooed. "We can fix this. Niall will give you another chance. I'm sure of it."

"H-He's already gi-given me thr-three chances and I screwed up all of them!" Liam stuttered through his tears. "He won't give me another. I know it. Niall's not that forgiving."

"All you have to do is prove to him that you're worth it," Jade answered in a soothing voice. "I'll help you come up with something, yeah? We'll come up with something brilliant that will make Niall remember why he loves you. And then you won't let anything come between the two of you."

Liam just nodded and tried his best to stop sobbing. He wanted to go lay down and cry in his room where no one could bother him, but he also wanted to stay and listen to the plan Jade might have.

"What do you have planned?" He asked once he had calmed enough to speak clearly.

-

Complicated magic really wasn't Liam's specialty. He really had no idea how he was supposed to put a charm on a flower to make it appear in Niall's room at a certain time. Jade had repeated the measures he was supposed to take at least three times, but Liam was still unsure.

He finally tried the charm and hoped desperately hoped it would work. He felt like sitting in his room and waiting to see if the rose would disappear, but he needed to go down to breakfast.

At this point, he had already tried once to explain to his boyfriend (was Niall even really his boyfriend anymore?) about what happened in the library. Niall had only wanted to know if he liked Sophia. Of course he didn't like Sophia! But the younger boy didn't give him time to talk.

He looked down the table to see Niall sitting there with Louis and Harry. Liam stood up and walked behind the boy he loved.

"Niall?" he asked softly. "Can we talk? Please?"

Niall turned around and looked at him with an empty glance. Liam looked into the younger boy's blue eyes. It was hard to believe that they had once held love when he looked at Liam.

"Not right now, Liam, okay? Prove yourself, yeah? You've put me through too much shit to be forgiven this easily. If you decide to prove yourself, maybe I'll talk to you then. I just can't do it right now. It hurts too much." Niall then spun back around on the bench and looked back at Louis and Harry.

Liam was hurt, but he sighed anyway and left the Great Hall. He was going to need a lot more roses.

-

_niall_

For once, Niall was actually starting to doubt Liam.

He had been keeping all of the clothes Liam had left to himself. The older boy hadn't asked for them back. Of course, the older boy hadn't really done anything yet either. Niall was scared he had pushed it too far by asking Liam to prove himself. He really just wanted to know that the older boy really loved him like he'd said.

Niall rolled out of his bed and stumbled into the bathroom, hoping that a warm shower would help him feel better. It was sometime after dinner, and all he really wanted to do was go to sleep despite the mountain of homework he had to do.

As soon as he walked into his bathroom, something lying across his sink caught his attention. It was a rose, just as there had been in the morning. Niall had no doubt in his mind it was from Liam. The rose itself was white, unlike the one from that morning.

Niall picked up the rose hesitantly and looked around for thorns. Once he noticed there weren't any, he picked off the note and read it carefully.

> White, for innocence, simply because you always look so innocent. You are innocent. Your big blue eyes are too adorable. Your skin is so beautiful and clear I always want to have my hands on it. I'm sorry if I screwed it up. I'd like to explain what happened, if you'll let me.

The boy's cheeks blushed as he read over the note. Part of him wanted to leave his room immediately and go up to Liam's, but Niall stopped himself. Instead, he pulled on a sweatshirt of Liam's (of course) and made a note to maybe, maybe talk to Liam at breakfast the next morning.

-

Niall wasn't exactly expecting to roll over the next morning onto another rose, but that's exactly what happened. This time, he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked around the flower for a note. It didn't take long to find one.

Cream, for appreciation. I hope you know how much I appreciate you, Niall. In the short time we were together, you changed me so much. I miss sleeping with you in my arms. It's hard to sleep now. I appreciate you.

He knew that this morning he needed to talk to Liam. Niall would even be willing to skip a class if it meant that they could actually talk about things.

He got dressed quickly and left his room with a smile on his face. Niall was ready to make things right with Liam.

In the Great Hall, Liam was sitting alone at the end of the Gryffindor table. He had his head in his hands and was looking at his lap. Niall walked over to him quietly and sat down in front of him. "Hi." Niall's voice was soft.

Liam's head jerked up and a smile spread across his face. "Niall," he answered in a breathy tone. "Hi. How are you?"

"I'm ready to talk, if you're willing." Niall looked at Liam's hand that was laid upward facing on the table. He wanted badly to take it, but he knew that it wasn't the time. Not yet.

"I..." Liam trailed off, as if he was trying to find the right words. "I want to prove myself first. I want you to know how much I love you before we try this again. I know right now that you can't really trust me, and I want you to know that you can. Let me do this, Niall." He looked determined, and Niall's heart warmed at the gesture.

"But can you at least tell me what happened?" Niall asked softly. He hoped that at least Liam would tell him what exactly had happened that afternoon so then they could get back on their path to trust.

Liam shook his head sadly and stood up. "Not now, love. Let me do this, okay?" he kissed Niall's cheek softly and walked out of the Great Hall.


	16. sixteen

Niall soon noticed that Liam was trying his best to keep distance in each class they had together. On one hand, he was happy that the older boy was taking his opportunity to prove himself so seriously, but on the other hand, Niall really wanted to hold Liam's hand.

By lunch time, the boy was dragging on his feet and all he really wanted to do was take a nap. As he sat down at the lunch table, Niall's head dropped onto Liam's shoulder as he sighed. "I'm so sleepy," he mumbled. "I want a nap."

"Same, love," Liam agreed. "I've got something for you. Do you want it now or shall I deliver it to your room?"

"I'll take it now, please!" Niall said eagerly. He picked his head off of the older boy's shoulder and smiled widely. Liam handed him another rose, this time white with green around the edges. He admired it for a moment before opening the small note.

> Green, for vitality, because baby, I wish we could have lasted forever. I wish I could make sure we last forever. I promise that if you give me another chance I won't mess it up this time. I'll make sure we last forever, baby.

"You're going to make me cry, LiLi," Niall mumbled as he leaned back into the boy's shoulder. "Don't make me all teary eyed in front of everyone."

"Can't help it, baby." Carefully, Liam leaned down and kissed the top of Niall's forehead. He cowered back quickly, as if he was scared Niall would throw him off. "I'm just telling the truth."

Niall laughed slightly and wiped his eyes. He mentally promised himself that he wouldn't cry. He was so, so happy that Liam had decided to prove himself. He wiped his eyes once more and looked at the boy.

"Thank you so much," Niall whispered. He kissed Liam's shoulder softly and smiled.

"Do you want to take a walk with me after dinner?" Liam whispered back. Neither boy could find a reason for whispering. Louis and Harry in front of them had stopped talking and were watching earnestly and hoping that they would maybe kiss.

"Depends, what would we do on this walk?" Niall asked cheekily.

"Walk," Liam replied with a laugh. "I told you, love, let me prove myself first. I've got a few more roses to go through, and then we'll see how things continue. I just want to prove myself a bit more first, okay?" His hand somehow found its way onto Niall's cheek. Liam's thumb was running over Niall's cheekbone. They were both staring so deeply into each other's eyes, Niall briefly wondered how the room hadn't exploded yet.

"Okay." Niall nodded softly and leaned into Liam's warm hand. "I'd be happy to go on a walk with you, then."

"Good." Liam leaned in and kissed his forehead. "That okay?"

"Perfect," Niall mumbled back. "I wish you'd kiss a little lower though."

"Just a little longer, baby. Then if you decide you want me back you can have me." Liam laughed a bit and leaned back away from the younger boy, dropping his hand unwillingly.

"Well, that was adorable," Louis proclaimed. "I think I cried a little bit. Can we go to class now, Haz?"

"But breakfast isn't over, Boo!" Harry whined. "And I want to see if they do any other cute things. I don't want to miss any Niam."

Niall rolled his eyes where Liam could see and stood up. "How about we go to class then, Li? If they're going to keep staring at us like we're show dogs. Besides, we've got Potions, right? It's going to take a while to get down there."

Liam stood up too and smiled brightly at the boy. "Well, let's go then." To both of their surprise, Niall reached over and grabbed for Liam's hand, holding it earnestly.

"This okay?" the younger boy whispered. "I can let go if you want."

"Don't let go," Liam whispered back. To emphasize his point, he gripped Niall's hand a bit tighter. Niall smiled softly and leaned into Liam.

"Never," Niall replied softly.

-

Niall and Liam stayed together for the rest of the day, mumbling and giggling to each other just as they had when they were just friends. The younger boy steadily felt love for Liam fill his body, and he was happy.

The pair ate dinner together was well, sitting a bit closer than "just friends" might allow. Neither boy really minded, either. They were both eager to get back to where they were just days ago, but Liam still wanted to take things a bit slow and make sure Niall knew that he could be trusted.

Louis and Harry did the same as they did at breakfast. They cooed over the couple and made gagging noises when appropriate, and Niall was happy that they were his friends. He was happy that Liam had brought them together.

After dinner, Niall and Liam headed outside for their walk before it was curfew. They held hands as they walked down the twisting campus, passing by their tree and the lake. Niall smiled at the fond memory.

"What are you smiling about?" Liam asked cheekily. He was looking down at Niall with a bright smile on his own face. "Is there something on my face?"

"Just thinking happy thoughts," Niall replied happily.

"I have another rose for you," Liam spoke after another few moments of silence. "Do you want it now or do you want me to send it up to your room so you can read it later?"

Niall pondered this for a moment. "Will it make me cry if I read it now?"

"I don't know." Liam had a cheeky smile. "It could. Do you want it?"

He thought for another moment. "Yes, please!" Niall finally exclaimed. Liam laughed and pulled a yellow rose out of his bag.

Yellow, for friendship, because we were friends first. I hope we are still friends. If we could never be anything more, I'd still like to be your friend.

"We're always friends, LiLi," Niall whispered to him. He nearly dropped the rose as he suddenly jerked forward and wrapped his arms around Liam's waist. He tried not to cry.

"I'm glad." Liam hugged him back. "So at least if you don't like my explanation we can still be friends."

"Can you tell me yet?" Niall whined in the tone of a small child. "I wanna know why you're waiting until you're done proving yourself to tell me. If it's a good enough reason, you won't even have to prove yourself. I'll kiss you here and now."

"As much as I'd like that kiss," Liam laughed, "I'll wait. It's a good enough reason, believe me, but I'm going to wait until after I prove myself. And I've already told you why I'm waiting, love. I want you to trust me fully and know that I'll never hurt you."

"I know you'll never hurt me," Niall mumbled. "As much as I love you doing all of this, I'm getting impatient."

"I know you are," Liam said with another laugh. "Let's go back to the castle, okay? You look like you're getting sleepy."

"I am." He leaned into Liam. "But I still want to stay with you. Can you sleep in my room?"

"No, baby." Liam shook his head. "Not yet. Maybe soon, though, okay?"

They walked back up to the castle quickly. Niall was still mulling over how to convince Liam to stay the night with him. He wondered how hard it would be just to drag Liam into his room and force him to stay there.

Liam walked Niall back to his room and even looked hesitant to let him go. "Are you sure you don't want to come in?" The younger was holding onto Liam's hand tightly and trying to convey to Liam that he wanted him to come in.

"I do," Liam said hesitantly. "But would it really be the good thing to do?"

"We won't do anything," Niall assured him. "Just sleep. And cuddle. Cuddling isn't off the table, is it?" He pouted because he really, really wanted to cuddle.

"Cuddling is always on the table," Liam promised, but he still looked unsure. Niall opened the door to his bedroom and pulled Liam in.

"Do you need to shower?" he asked softly. Liam had sat down on Niall's bed and smiled at the sweatshirt that was thrown over the pillows.

"I'll do it in the morning," Liam decided. "Are you going to?"

"I think so." Niall nodded. "I'll be back in a bit." He grabbed the sweatshirt off the pillows and grabbed a pair of boxers out of his trunk. "Try not to break anything," he joked.

Niall tried his best to shower quickly because he wanted to get back to Liam. He was ready to finally get to sleep with Liam again. Niall hadn't quite realized how much he missed sleeping in Liam's arms.

He walked back out of the bathroom with wet hair and saw Liam laying back on the bed twirling an orange rose between his fingers.

"Where do you even get all these roses from?" Niall asked before he could stop himself. "They all seem to be appearing out of nowhere."

"That's a secret, love. You wanna come read it now?" Liam sat up and smiled so widely his eyes crinkled at the sides. Niall loved that smile.

"Lemme see it!" Niall said excitedly. He walked quickly over to the bed and bounced down next to Liam. He took the rose into his own hands and smelled it happily.

Orange, for enthusiasm. I love how excitable you are. You get so excited over the littlest things, and it's beautiful. Enthusiasm looked beautiful on you. And I'm enthusiastic to get back with you.

Niall felt a smile spread across his face, and he got up off the bed to put the orange rose with all the others. He then walked back to Liam and wrapped his arms around his waist. "I love you," he mumbled into the older boy's chest. "I know you wanna wait, but I love you."

"I love you too, Ni," Liam whispered back. Instead of kissing his lips, though, as both of them whispered, the older boy kissed his forehead. "I wasn't going to give you that rose until tomorrow morning, but I decided to speed it up a little bit. I'm getting impatient too."

"You can stop if you feel like it," Niall said cheekily. "I wouldn't be opposed."

"I know you wouldn't." Liam laughed lightly and smiled. "Are you ready to sleep then?"

The pair lied back on the bed cuddled closely. Liam, which much struggle, pulled the blanket over them so Niall wouldn't get cold in the night. "Can you kiss me?" the younger boy asked softly. "On the lips?"

Liam didn't answer. He didn't even move for a moment. Slowly, he curled his body even more around Niall's and placed a soft kiss on the boy's lips. "I love you," Liam mumbled against them.

"I love you too," Niall whispered back.

-

Niall rolled over the next morning hoping to come in contact with Liam's warm body. He didn't. Instead, his cold body was met with warm sheets telling him that Liam had left only minutes prior. Niall sat up with a frown on his face and looked around the room. Liam was nowhere to be found. The only proof Niall had that he had been there in the first place was the warm sheets and the salmon colored rose that was laid on the pillow.

He wiped the sleep out of his eyes reached for the note on the rose. He hoped briefly it held some explanation as to why Liam left so early.

> Salmon, for desire. The note read. You know how attracted I am to you, right? Not only do I desire your body but your mind, as well. You're so brilliant, Niall, and so, so attractive. You know exactly how to make me feel better after a bad day. I'm sorry I fucked things up, but I hope we both can move past it and love each other again.
> 
> P.S. I'm sorry I left so early. You look cute while you sleep.

Niall smiled as he finished the note. He hoped that Liam would be at breakfast so he could properly hug him and strangle him for not staying. He climbed off of the bed and put the salmon colored rose in the vase with all the others. Niall noticed he had quite the collection now.

He threw on his robes quickly and brushed through his hair before pushing through the common room to go to breakfast. It was oddly crowded this morning, and Niall wondered why. He hoped he hadn't missed anything important.

Niall found Liam already sitting with Harry and Louis at the Hufflepuff table. He approached the table with a frown on his face and sat down next to Liam with a huff.

"I'm mad at you," he proclaimed as he began to fill his plate with breakfast.

"Why?" Liam nearly sputtered out his pumpkin juice. Niall swore he had never seen the boy look so terrified. Not even when a bludger was coming right at his head. The younger couldn't keep up his anger facade any longer, and he began to laugh.

"I woke up you weren't there." Niall pouted. "I was upset."

Liam's face relaxed and he was able to laugh a bit. "I'm sorry, baby. I figured I had probably overstayed my welcome. If it makes you feel better, I wish I had stayed. I felt like turning back as soon as I walked into the common room."

"That doesn't make me feel much better." Niall's pout was still firmly on his face. "I really wish you had stayed."

"I wish I had stayed too, love," Liam told him. He leaned over and kissed the boy's forehead and then let him eat in silence.

Louis huffed at the couple from across the table. "So does no one care how we are, Hazzy? What if we had broken up? Do you think they would care?"

"And how are you, Louis Tomlinson? Any new developments?" Niall asked cheekily. "Anything important you'd like to share with us?"

Louis huffed, still trying to keep up his angry facade before he laughed. "I'm perfectly fine, Nialler. No new developments. Well, as long as you don't want to hear about mine and Hazzy's sex life. That's another story. Nothing important I'd like to share, though."

"We need to have a sleepover this weekend, Lou," Niall decided. "I feel like we haven't properly talked in a while."

"We haven't," Louis mused. "You've been a bit busy with Payno, but that's okay. We will have to have a sleepover, though. That sounds really nice."

"Sleepover this weekend, then, Tommo!" Niall exclaimed. "It's decided. You have to come this weekend, though. ASAP."

Louis laughed lightly. "Of course, Nialler. We can gossip about our boyfriends all evening long!"

Niall went along with the joke and gasped. "And we can have pillow fights! And lots of candy, can we have lots of candy?"

"I think you've already had enough candy, Nialler," Harry joked. "It's too early. How are you already so hyper?"

"Because Leemo stayed the night last night and we got to cuddle!" Niall answered excitedly. "And Louis and I are having a sleepover this weekend! What's there to not be excited about?"

"The fact that it's so early, love," Liam supplied. "But if it's any consolation, I'm happy that I got to stay the night too."

"I already knew that, Leemo," Niall said with a giggle. "Which nickname do you like better? LiLi or Leemo?"

"I like anything you call me, baby." Liam leaned over and brushed his nose against Niall's. "As long as you aren't calling me bad things, that is."

"I'd never call you bad names, LiLi." Niall smiled brightly at him.

"You two are very cute this morning," Louis noted. "And with that, I think it's time for class. Are you coming, lovebugs?"

"Yeah, we're coming, Lou," Liam told him. He took Niall's hand and the two of them stood up. "What class do we have this morning, Ni?"

"I don't even remember," Niall mumbled. "Herbology, maybe? That sounds right."

Liam nodded and the four of them began their walk to Herbology, laughing and joking around just like they always did. Niall was overcomed by a certain happiness at the thought of his friends. He once again mentally thanked Liam for introducing him to Louis and Harry.

They arrived at Herbology, and sadly Niall and Liam had to step apart. Professor Sprout had the class put in alphabetical order, so the couple couldn't stay next to each other. Louis and Harry always tended to snicker at this because they were always able to be partners due to the fact that they were always partners because of their last names.

Liam was sending Niall looks from across the room for the entire class period. The younger boy was constantly blushing and fumbling with his plants under Liam's gaze. Once, he nearly dropped the pot that he was supposed to be carefully holding.

After class, Niall made sure to give him a quick swat on the bum for distracting him. To this Liam only laughed, pulled the younger close, and kissed his forehead.

"Love you, Ni," he whispered in the middle of Transfiguration.

"Love you too, LiLi," Niall whispered back. He kissed Liam's shoulder and settled into his side.


	17. seventeen

The weekend came faster than Niall or Louis was expecting it to. By Friday night at dinner, Niall felt like falling asleep on Liam's shoulder and he had nearly forgotten that Louis wsa coming over that night.

It seemed that Liam had paused all his attempts at proving himself due to Niall's sleepiness. "I'm waiting for the next roses to come in," he had told Niall.

"Where are you getting them from, then?" Niall asked eagerly. He had been dying to know where exactly Liam was getting his sweet smelling roses, but the older boy still refused to tell.

"That's my secret, love," Liam answered with a sweet smile. "My mum sends them to me from a super secret place in our village. I don't even know exactly where the shop is."

Niall pouted but still nodded his head. "I'd still like to know. Those roses are heavenly, I swear."

"I know, love." Liam chuckled. "And maybe one day you'll find out. But for now, it's a village secret." He kissed the top of his head.

At dinner Friday night, Niall was basically asleep on Liam's shoulder. He knew that Louis was talking to him and he needed to open his eyes, but he physically couldn't. Finally, Liam pushed Niall off his shoulder and forced the boy to open his eyes.

"What?" he mumbled sleepily. "I'm sorry, Lou. What were you saying?"

Louis sighed. "I was saying that if you're really that tired we don't have to have the sleepover tonight. You look like you need some sleep. Something keeping you up at night?"

Niall thought back to all the things that ran through his mind as he tried to go to sleep. Most of it was Liam, but he really couldn't say that it kept him up at night. "Nothing," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. "I sleep. I sleep well. I think I'm just mentally tired. I could use a night just with you."

"Well, are you finished eating then?" Louis asked skeptically. "We could go now, if you want to. That way we could sleep a bit earlier."

Niall looked down at his plate and saw all the half eaten food there. "Yeah, let's go on, then," he decided. They each gave their boyfriends one last kiss (in Niall's case, on the cheek) and left the Great Hall.

 

"So what do you feel like doing tonight?" the older boy asked excitedly. "We've got the whole castle at our disposal!"

"I just wanna go gossip a bit and then sleep," Niall admitted. Louis nodded, and the pair stayed quiet until they made it back to Niall's room. Louis then threw himself onto Niall's bed and sighed loudly.

"And you wanted to gossip about?" he mumbled with his face in a pillow.

"Tell me about you and Haz," Niall pleaded. "I've been spending so much time with Liam I don't even pay attention to you anymore. I'm sorry, LouLou."

"That's a horrible nickname." Louis laughed. "But I'll let it slide because it's you, Nialler. Harry and I, eh? I don't even know where to start. Hazzy and I are good, like, really good. I think I love him, Nialler. In fact, I'm pretty sure I love him."

"That's great, LouLou." Niall smiled. "I'm glad you love him. Harry is wonderful. Have you two been out on any dates lately?"

"Besides just the Hogsmeade weekend, no," Louis admitted. "It's a bit hard to go on dates when it's not Hogsmeade weekend. There isn't many places to go on campus on a date, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Niall agreed. "But little walks around the campus are always fun to take. Maybe you and Haz should go on a few of those."

"It feels almost like we aren't even a couple and you're trying to set us up, Nialler," Louis laughed lightly. "Dates are fun, though. Maybe we should go on a few walks."

"They're nice. You can just talk about things, or even just stay quiet. I love walks." Niall sighed and laid back against his bed too.

"You should a bit loopy, mate," Louis said in a concerned tone. "Are you sure you shouldn't just go to bed?"

"Nah, mate, I just want to talk to you." Niall yawned as he reached the end of his sentence. "Tell me about Harry. Like I've said, I feel like I'm abusing you by not paying you any attention."

"You aren't abusing me," Louis promised him. "I understand why you haven't been hanging out with us so much. But what do you want to know about Harry?"

"Just..." Niall yawned, "how he treats you. What he's like. That sort of thing."

"He treats me like a prince, Nialler, and it's wonderful," Louis admitted with a shy blush on his face. "He's everything I want and need and he's just so beautiful and I'm not quite sure how I ended up with something so amazing as him."

"It happened because you deserve it, Lou," Niall told his friend softly. "You deserve the best, and so you got it."

Louis sighed happily and looked over at Niall. "You and Liam are working things out, right? No more fights?"

"We're doing perfect, Lou," Niall too sighed happily. "He treats me like a prince. I don't know what I ever did to deserve him. He's too good, like an angel or something."

"You deserve the best, so you go it," Louis quoted cheekily. "I'm glad he's treating you properly, though. You deserve to be treated like a prince after all the shit you've been through."

"Thanks, Lou," the younger boy answered softly. He yawned for another moment and settled back into his bed. "I think I'm gonna go take a shower. Can you try not to break anything while I'm gone? I enjoy everything where it is. I could give you my laptop or something."

"Nah, just leave me here, mate," Louis said dismissively. "It's one of those times I wish I had one of those Muggle phones. I wanna talk to Harry."

"You can go, if you want," Niall suggested. "If you're missing Harry, you can go." The boy had a small frown on his face at the thought of Louis leaving so soon, but he wasn't going to keep him if he didn't want to be there.

Louis frowned at him and shook his head. "No, I'm not leaving. This is our night, Nialler. I can miss Harry for one night."

A smile spread across Niall's face, and he nodded. "Okay, then," he said softly. "I'm gonna go shower. Feel free to mess with my Muggle things, just don't break them. They cost a lot of money that I don't have."

Louis just nodded dismissively and waited for Niall to walk into the bathroom. The younger boy shut the door and sighed to himself. He could feel himself missing Liam, but he didn't want to think about the older boy. Then he might tell Louis to go so Liam could come over and maybe they could cuddle again.

But instead, he turned on the water for the shower and rid himself of his clothes. Niall stepped under the burning water and smiled happily. The hot water relieved some of the tension in Niall's muscles and made him feel better momentarily.

By the time Niall got out of the shower, Liam was slowly creeping back into his mind and he kind of just wanted to go to bed. He knew that Louis would probably want to stay up a little bit longer and talk, though.

Niall trudged out of the bathroom in a hoodie of Liam's and a pair of boxers. Louis gave him a funny look and walked toward the door to Niall's bedroom.

"Someone knocked," he explained in a confused tone. Louis opened the door and found Harry and Liam standing there.

"Hi, babe," Harry greeted. He leaned down and kissed Louis's cheek softly. "I know that you two were having a night in, but we decided that we'd at least bring you two some snacks. We got them from the kitchen. The house elves were more than willing to prepare some things for you."

Liam pushed a cart full of candy and sweets into the room. Niall gasped and ran forward to hug him. "Oh dear," he said softly. "How did you get this many sweets?"

"Told you, babes." Liam laughed softly. "House elves were more than willing to make them for you. Now, we'll get out of your hair. I know you two were having a boys' night in. We just figured we'd be good boyfriends and bring some sweets."

"Boyfriends, aye?" Louis asked in Liam's direction. "I didn't know you two were boyfriends."

"I didn't either," Niall said softly. "Boyfriends, aye?"

Liam gave him a small smile. "If you'd like to be. My boyfriend, I mean."

"I'd love to be your boyfriend," the younger boy answered in the same soft tone. He leaned up on his tip toes and gave Liam a small kiss on the cheek. "Why don't you two stay, then? I can't just let you leave after you bring all these sweets. Let's just watch a movie on my laptop, how about it?"

"Laptop..." Liam trailed off for a moment, as if he were trying to remember what Niall was speaking of. "Oh! You mean that thing with all the letters on it!"

"Yeah, love." Niall patted his boyfriend's cheek. "My laptop is the thing with all the letters on it. What if we all cuddle up on my bed and watch a movie? Have you guys heard of movies?"

All three boys gave him a blank look.

"Alright, on the bed then!" he proclaimed. "But I get to sit in the middle since I'll have the laptop. On the bed now!"

Niall sat down in the middle of the bed with his laptop on his knees. Liam sat at his side, pressed against the wall. Louis was at Niall's other side sitting in Harry's lap with a smile on his face. "What is this movie we're going to watch, Nialler?" he asked eagerly. Harry nodded in agreement.

"Hmm..." Niall searched through the movie gallery on his laptop with a pondering look on his face. "Lilo and Stitch? It's about this girl and a little alien cutie thing and it's just positively adorable." He squeaked a bit and tried to pretend that he had not just made that noise. "Okay, we're totally watching it."

Niall didn't leave any further questions as he clicked on the movie and waited for it to load. For the moment, he leaned into Liam's side and kissed his shoulder. "Love you, LiLi," he whispered softly. The movie started, and all conversation in the group stopped.

-

After the movie, Louis was asleep and Harry was babbling on about how amazing the movie was. Liam was doing the same, and Niall was having trouble listening to the two of them. He felt like laughing because he didn't realize how much his friends would enjoy the movie.

"I can't believe Lou fell asleep," Harry grumbled. "That was such a good movie, how did he fall asleep?"

Harry grumbled on for another moment about how there was no way Louis should have fallen asleep, which reduced Niall to a laughing mess. "It was a good movie, though," he agreed. "I'd offer for you two to sleep here tonight, but I really don't have the room. Maybe we can have another one of these movie nights, though. This was fun."

"It was!" Harry agreed eagerly. "I'm gonna take Louis back to my room. See you tomorrow morning, guys." He waved goodbye before gathering his boyfriend into his arms. Liam stood up and opened the door for him and waved the pair goodbye. He then climbed back onto the bed with Niall and smiled sweetly.

"Have you showered already?" Liam asked with a slight smile on his face. Niall laughed at his eagerness and nodded his head.

"I have, sorry, love," Niall answered with his own smile. "I already did. But I'll come sit in there with you if you want me to. We could have a chat."

"About what exactly?" Liam laughed. "Is there anything you need to tell me?"

"Nope." Niall popped his lips. "Not that I can think of anyway. I'll just sit here then while you shower. I've got clothes here if you need them."

"Can I get a sweatshirt of mine?" Liam asked softly. "Where is one? I'll get it. You don't need to get up."

"In my chest," Niall answered in the same soft tone. "I've got a couple of them, actually. I've probably stolen too many of your hoodies, I'm sorry." The younger had a small blush on his cheeks and he looked down and played with his fingers.

"It's okay, baby." Liam walked over to the bed and placed his hand on Niall's cheek. "I like the fact that you've taken some of my clothes. You look better in them than I do anyway."

"Not true!" Niall gasped. He wanted to hit Liam softly, but the older boy took Niall's hands in his. He wanted to protest, but his boyfriend captured his lips and refused to let him speak.

"You don't realize how beautiful you are, do you?" Liam asked quietly as he pulled away. "You're so, so gorgeous, Ni. I wish I could show you how amazing you are."

"I'm not as amazing as you make me out to be," Niall mumbled. He leaned himself into Liam's chest and gave his pec a quick kiss. "Go take a shower, babes. We can argue more about who's the most amazing when you get out."

His boyfriend mumbled something under his breath and flashed Niall a shy smile as he headed into the bathroom. The younger boy laid back on his bed and sighed happily. He felt his heart swell a bit with his love for Liam.

All he really wanted to do was gather the older boy into his arms and promise Liam that he loved him. Niall briefly wondered if Liam would let him be the big spoon for the night. His boyfriend spent most of his time trying to make Niall feel better about himself, and now the younger boy just wanted to get back. He suddenly felt a bit like he didn't treat Liam like he should.

By the time Liam got back out of the shower, Niall was sitting up on the bed and ready to tell Liam exactly what he was feeling.

"Why the long face, baby?" Liam asked as he walked out of the bathroom. His hair was still wet and he was wearing the same attire as Niall.

"I feel like I don't pay enough attention to you," Niall blurted. He reached out his arms like a small child and made grabby hands toward Liam. "Come here. I want to be the big spoon tonight. Can I?"

"What's got you feeling like this all of the sudden?" Liam asked hesitantly. "You pay plenty of attention to me. Don't worry."

"I just," Niall struggled to find the right words, "I feel like you're always trying to make me feel good about myself and make sure I'm okay, but I never remind you just how beautiful you are. You mean so much to me and I feel like one day you're just going to leave because I don't remember to tell you how much you mean to me."

"You're never going to lose me, Ni," Liam whispered. "Never again. I don't want to lose you."

"You mean so much to be, Liam." Niall felt his eyes well up with tears, and he tried his best to push them back down. "I never want you to feel like I don't care about you because I do. I love you so, so much."

Liam's cheeks blushed at his boyfriend's words. Niall pulled him back into a laying position and made sure he was situated behind Liam's back. "Go to sleep, love," Niall whispered. He threw his leg over Liam's side and made sure that his head was resting back against Niall's chest. "I love you so, so much."


	18. eighteen

Niall woke up the next morning with Liam still in his arms and a rose thrown over his nose. His nose crinkled up at the tickled feeling and he looked down at Liam, who had a smile on his face.

"How did you get the rose?" Niall mumbled in a sleepy tone. "You haven't left. I would know if you had left."

"Magic," Liam said cheekily. His voice sounded a lot more awake than Niall felt. "I am a wizard, you know. I can do things like that."

Niall giggled a bit and winced. "Don't make me laugh. It's too early."

"We have class today, babe," Liam whispered after another moment. "I'd rather stay here with you. Can I just skip school?"

"Then you won't be able to practice," the younger boy reminded him. "You've got practice this afternoon, right?"

Liam thought for a moment and nodded against Niall's chest. "I think so. But I just want to skip. I wanna lay here with you all day. Can we just skip and lay here all day?"

Niall laughed softly and sat up despite Liam's whines. "We've got to go to class, babes," he told him, running a hand through his brown hair. "The weekend will be here soon enough. You can stay here again tonight if you want."

Liam nodded and sat up along with Niall. He pulled his boyfriend into a sweet kiss and smiled against his lips. "I guess we need to get ready then." He still had a pout on his lips. "Do we have all the same classes today?"

Niall thought for his schedule for the day and nodded. "I think so, but you'll be able to make it a single class without me if we don't."

"I don't want to, though!" Liam whined. Niall laughed at him.

"What's got you all whiney this morning? I don't think you've ever whined this much since you were a child," Niall mused. Liam still had that pout on his face, and the younger boy wanted to kiss it off.

"I just slept really good last night and I would like to stay here and continue it, if you don't mind," Liam defended himself. "And I really don't feel like classes today or Quidditch practice."

Niall leaned back a bit as he laughed once more. His hand landed on something that definitely wasn't his pillow, and he gasped at the fact that he had forgotten about the rose. "I can't believe I forgot about the rose!" he quickly fumbled to pick it up and read the note. Liam had a smile on his face.

> Red, for romance. I was going to save this one for last, but I figured I would go ahead and give it to you. I wish I was good at actual romance, not just the cheesy kind that you see in Muggle films and hear about in songs. I wish I could take you out to a nice restaurant and hold you every night while you sleep. I hope you give me the opportunity to follow through with all this romance.

Niall looked up at his boyfriend with a huge smile on his face. He was trying not to cry. "You always have the opportunity to do this things," he said in a thick voice. "I don't want to cry."

Liam had the biggest smile on his face as he pulled the younger boy into his chest. Niall laughed through a sob. "I love you, Ni," he whispered.

"I love you too, LiLi." Niall wiped the tears from his face.

-

Niall could barely even move out of Liam's side for the rest of the day. The older boy was being incredibly clingy that day, but he didn't really mind. Niall loved having Liam constantly holding him and kissing his cheek. Louis had made gagging noises at him at lunch because he was sitting on Liam's lap, but Niall only stuck his tongue out because Louis was indeed sitting on Harry's lap.

Besides, with Liam's head on his shoulder, Niall really couldn't care about anything. Liam was too busy laughing along with his crinkly eyes and making Niall fall for him yet again.

Liam left for Quidditch practice right after their last class of the day. Niall promised with a kiss on the cheek that he would be out at the fields after he changed and gathered his homework. Liam didn't want to leave him alone for even that small amount of time, but he still hugged his boyfriend tightly and left with a small frown on his face.

Louis walked back to Niall's room with him. "So what's up with Liam? He's been awfully clingy today," he pointed out softly.

"He spent the night last night," Niall told him in a dismissive tone. "We were having a good cuddle and he really really didn't want to get up this morning. I made him, though. I guess that's why he was so cuddly today. I don't really mind."

Louis nodded distractedly and sat down on Niall's bed. "It was cute," he commented. "You two are really, really cute."

"Is something bothering you, Lou?" Niall asked softly. He sat down on the bed next to Louis and watched as the older boy frowned. "You look kinda upset."

"I just..." Louis trailed off. "It doesn't matter. You're finally happy, I shouldn't be bothering you with this."

"Don't be silly, Lou," Niall protested. "We're friends, of course it matters."

Louis sighed and placed his head in his hands. "I don't think Harry likes me anymore," he admitted softly. "He hasn't been the same lately. I feel like he's backing away from me."

"I'm sure he isn't, Lou," Niall assured him. The younger was trying his best to remain hopeful, but he was unsure of what exactly was going through Harry's head. Did he really not like Louis anymore? That was an insane thought. Harry loved Louis. Things were not supposed to be any other way. "I'll get Liam to talk to him, okay? We'll see exactly what's going through his head."

"I just don't know, Niall." Louis shook his head. "I don't know what's going through Harry's head, but I'm actually scared to find out."

"I'm sure he's got a reason, Lou," Niall told him softly. "Do you want to come sit at Liam's Quidditch practice with me? We can do some homework or something. We could just talk, if you want to."

Louis stood up from the bed. "No, I don't want to impose. I'll just go back to my own room and work on homework. I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast."

"Are you sure, Lou?" Niall was concerned for his friend. He didn't want to leave Louis alone, but if the older boy wanted to go, he would led him. "You wouldn't be imposing."

"I think I'll be fine, Nialler, but thank you for offering. I'm gonna go now so you can go on to see your lover." Louis stood up from the bed, gave Niall's cheek a quick kiss, and then left the room.

Niall sighed and finished putting his books in his bag before he too left the room. He shivered a bit as he made his way out of the castle, for it was cold outside and Niall still didn't really want to put up with it.

It wasn't long before Niall was sat in the bleachers on the Quidditch field. He didn't really plan on watching much of the practice, but he still looked up every once and a while. Niall loved to see the way that Liam took charge over the team. He was such a natural leader, it made Niall smile.

He turned his mind to his Transfiguration homework after a while and began to write the paper that went along with the question that Professor Mcgonagall had given them. Niall looked up every now and again to watch Liam, and when their eyes met, they waved.

By the time Liam had officially finished practice, Niall had successfully finished two short essays. He climbed down the stairs excitedly and found Liam waiting for him.

"I'd hug you, but I'm a bit sweaty," Liam admitted. He went in and kissed the younger boy's cheek softly. "Did you get all your things done?"

"For the most part." Niall nodded. "I don't understand how you keep up with all your homework being a Quidditch player and everything."

"Professors are generally a bit more lenient with me," Liam admitted. "But I'm still usually on top of homework. It's a lot of late nights and bad essays, but, you know."

Niall nodded to himself and began walking to the changing rooms with Liam. The older boy was chattering on about his practice, explaining about some awesome saves that he had had. Niall was simply nodding along and listening carefully.

He sat outside the changing rooms while his boyfriend changed, pulling out his Potions book and reading ahead a bit. All he really wanted to do at this point was go back to his room and fall asleep, but he still leaned against the wall and read his Potions book carefully.

Liam came out in another few minutes, laughing and carrying on with another one of his teammates. "Are you ready to go, Ni?" he asked softly. Liam waved goodbye to his mate and looked down at his boyfriend who was standing up from the ground.

"If you are," Niall answered. "You can stay and chat for a little longer if you're feeling up to it. We don't have to go yet."

"Nah, let's go, love," Liam told him. He took Niall's hand and ran a thumb along the back of his hand. "I'd rather talk to you than deal with this doofus. He can barely hold a Quaffle."

"Thanks, Liam," his mate rolled his eyes."I'll see you Sunday for practice then."

Liam nodded, and he and Niall began to back to the castle. They stayed silent this time, although Niall did want to start up a conversation. He had no idea about what, though.

"I just want to go sleep," Liam complained. "I don't even care about dinner. I just want to lay down and sleep."

"You don't even want dinner?!" Niall gasped. "Who are you and what did you do with my boyfriend?"

"Can we please just go sleep?" Liam whined. "I wanna cuddle you. I wanna be big spoon tonight."

"I'm going to make you go to dinner," Niall stated firmly. "Athletes need to eat. You're not going to have as much muscle if you don't eat."

"I don't care," his boyfriend grumbled with a pout. "I just want to sleep."

"You're eating." Niall was firm with Liam. "I don't care what you say. You don't get a choice. It's unhealthy for you to not eat."

Liam huffed like a small child but still followed his boyfriend into the dining hall. There they found Louis and Harry, who were already eating silently. Niall noted the slight space between the couple and sighed softly.

"Hi, Lou," Niall greeted as he sat down. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Niall," the older boy snapped. "Why wouldn't I be?" The younger boy shrank back and nodded to himself.

Liam just watched the exchange between the two and didn't ask Niall what had happened. The lilac haired boy looked at him and shook his head. The other couple just began to make their own plates and eat in silence.

Dinner was very tense, and Niall was relieved when he and Liam finally stood up to leave. He wanted to wave goodbye to Louis and Harry, but he wasn't sure if he should, so he just followed Liam out of the Great Hall with his head pointed to the floor.

"What was all of that about?" Liam asked softly. He looked behind him quickly as if to see if Louis and Harry were somewhere behind him. "Why was Louis so mad?"

"He thinks Harry isn't interested in him anymore," he replied softly. "I need you to talk to Harry about it. I wanna know what's going on between the two of them, but obviously Louis isn't going to tell me anything."

Liam frowned but nodded his head. "I'll ask Harry about it tomorrow. I really hope nothing is going on with them. They're like the perfect couple."

"Obviously not perfect," Niall murmured. "I just wish I could help them."

"I do too, love." Liam nodded along with Niall and pulled the younger boy tightly into his arms. "Can we go cuddle now?"

"Yeah, LiLi," he answered softly. "Let's go cuddle now."

-

"Do you want another rose now?" Liam asked randomly as they laid in bed. They had been laying there together for only a few minutes. Niall could feel his wet hair sticking to the pillow and he sat up.

"That depends," he mused with a light smile on his lips. "Is it with you or do you have to go get it?"

"It's with me, of course." Liam snorted. "Do you think I would get up and go get something when I have this lovely boy in my arms?"

"You're still going to have to get up," Niall answered with a pout. "I don't want you to move. Can't it wait?"

"Well now that you're being all stubborn I am definitely going to get it." Liam grinned. He unwrapped his arms from around Niall and gave him a quick kiss before he got off the bed. His bag was only a few steps from the bed, so he was there and back within a few seconds.

Niall took the rose from Liam and spun it around in his hands for a moment. "Is the note going to make me cry?" he asked hesitantly. "I'd really rather not cry right now."

"I don't know," Liam said with a sly smile. "It'll make you cry if you let it." Niall just looked down and read the note to himself.

> Pink, for gratitude. I'm so so thankful for you, Ni. I think I've told you this before, but I honestly don't know what I'd do without you. You complete me, and for that I'm so grateful. Love you so so much, Nialler .xx

Niall felt his eyes tear up and he looked back at Liam. "That was very cute," he whispered to his boyfriend. "It made me tear up a bit."

"I can see that," Liam laughed. "I'm sorry for making you tear up, but I just can't resist it. I love writing sappy little notes."

"So I've noticed," he answered with the same grin. "Do you have any other reasons to make me cry, or can I go to sleep now?"

Liam laughed a bit and tucked his chin over Niall's head with a soft sigh. "Go to sleep, baby. I love you."

"Love you too, LiLi," the younger boy mumbled into his chest.

-

Niall was not optimistic to go to breakfast the next morning. He really didn't want to face Louis and Harry and possibly get yelled at once again. He almost asked Liam to go down early and get him food so he wouldn't have to face the couple, but he wouldn't make his boyfriend do that.

So to wake Liam up, he peppered the older boy's face with kisses until he was giggling so hard he couldn't do it even more. Even then Liam's eyes were still closed. He had a slight smile on his face, but Niall couldn't tell if he was awake or just really liked his dream.

He placed another two soft kisses on Liam's eyelids before the older boy showed any signs of being awake. "I've been awake for a while," Liam admitted. "I just wanted to see if you would keep kissing me."

Niall giggled a bit and leaned down to kiss Liam once again. He had all the intentions of keeping it innocent, but Liam took hold of the back of his neck and pulled him closer before slipping his tongue in the younger boy's mouth. "Cheeky," Niall said with a laugh, "but it's too early to be getting this sexy."

"What can I say, you're really attractive in the morning." Liam shrugged with an unabashed look on his face. "Actually, you're really attractive all the time, but that's beside the point. Can we shower together?"

"You're very cheeky this morning, LiLi." Niall stood off the bed and smiled brightly. "I don't know how much you deserve it. I might just have to go shower by myself."

Liam groaned and rolled over into a pillow. "You're torturing me, baby. Why can't we shower together?"

"Because you're being extra cheeky." Niall turned around and wiggled his ass a little bit for his boyfriend. "Don't you dare come in here." He heard Liam groan once again as he shut the door.

Niall turned the water on with a light laugh. He had no idea why Liam was being so cheeky, but he kind of liked it. He showered as quickly as possible and stepped out because he wanted to get back to Liam.

For a quick moment, Niall wished he had brought his robes in the bathroom with him so he could put them on, but instead he decided to tease Liam a bit right back. He wrapped the towel low on his hips and walked out of the bathroom, biting his lip a bit as he went.

Liam's jaw dropped the moment Niall opened the door. "Why are you so beautiful?" he asked in a soft tone. "It's like there's an angel in front of me. Have I died?"

"I really hope you aren't dead, Liam," Niall teased. "I quite like you alive."

"I've got to be dead. An angel is standing in front of me." Liam was still being incredibly cheeky. Niall let the towel slide down another few centimeters and listened to Liam's groan. "You're killing me, baby, I swear."

Niall just laughed and walked over to his trunk to grab his robes. Liam sat up quickly and tried to make a grab for his boyfriend, but he backed away just in time. Niall gave his boyfriend a disapproving look. "You're too cheeky this morning, LiLi. Go take a shower and then I'll see if there's anything I can do with you."

Liam nodded sadly and climbed off the bed. "Do you have any more towels in there or can I use that one?" he pointed to the one around Niall's waist with a smirk playing on his lips.

"You can have this one." Niall said exactly what Liam wasn't expecting. He pulled the towel off his hips and gave it to Liam. He watched as the older boy's jaw dropped and he caught the towel.

Niall laughed loudly as he watched his boyfriend's eyes fall down to his waist. He quickly slipped on a pair of boxers so Liam didn't have anything to oogle at. "Now, if you're done staring," he spoke up. Liam's eyes were still glued to his waist, "you need to shower, babe. You're gonna be late for breakfast and I'll have to leave without you." That was a lie. Niall would never leave without him.

Liam's mouth was dry as he tried to come up with some sort of cheeky response, but he couldn't find one. Instead he just nodded as if he were in a daze and walked into the bathroom.


	19. nineteen

Niall really didn't want to go down to breakfast. He would much rather have stayed in his room and continued to tease Liam as he was previously doing. He would much rather have stayed in bed wrapped in Liam's arms asleep.

Instead he forced himself to leave the room with his hand in Liam's and face his two friends who were falling apart. Niall made his boyfriend promise once again that he would ask Harry what was going on.

"Can I just tell you how much I don't want to be here?" Niall admitted to Liam as they walked into the Great Hall. "I don't want Louis to snap at me like he did yesterday."

"He won't," Liam promised him. "I gave him a solid glare yesterday. He'd be pretty stupid to try it again."

"Still," Niall insisted. He let a frown fall on his face. "I don't even want to go to breakfast. I just want to go to bed. I don't want to class either. I could just lay with you forever."

"And we would only be laying?" Liam asked cheekily. "We wouldn't be doing anything else?"

Niall laughed and hit Liam's chest. "How do you always know how to make me feel better? I don't understand it."

"It's just a gift, baby," the older boy said with a wink. He leaned down and kissed Niall's cheek with a smile. "Let's keep going. We look a bit awkward getting all mushy in the hall."

He looked around for a moment and noticed that they had indeed drawn several pairs of eyes toward them. Niall just then noticed the position they were in. Liam had pushed him into the wall and he was giggling against his boyfriend's neck.

"Yeah, we should probably get going." Niall's cheeks were more blushed than he ever thought they could get, but he could feel Liam's eyes locked on his cheeks. "What are you looking at?" he asked hesitantly.

"You," Liam answered simply. "You look beautiful, per usual."

Niall blushed even more. "Stop that. I know I'm not as beautiful as you make me out to be. I still love you though."

"And I love you," Liam promised him with a real smile on his face, "and that's why I remind you that you are beautiful. You're just as beautiful as I make you out to be."

"You know, you're pretty beautiful too," Niall said softly. "I know I don't tell you that enough, but you are."

"Let's not get too sappy this morning," Liam answered with a soft laugh. "I love you, Ni. Now, we've actually got to get to breakfast before there is no food left."

Niall nodded with a slight blush on his cheeks and took Liam's hand in his own and followed him to breakfast. He kept his head down as they walked into the Great Hall and hoped not to see Louis and Harry. He almost wished that he and Liam were late enough that they had missed the other two.

Louis and Harry were still waiting for them when they sat down at the table. Niall didn't say hello this morning. He only sat down and began to fill a plate with food, sitting closer into Liam's side than necessary.

"Niall," Louis tried to gain his attention. Niall looked down at his plate and refused to acknowledge his friend. He was still angry at the way he had been treated the previous day when he was only checking on his friend. Liam nudged him carefully.

"Just leave it, Lou," Harry said softly. "He doesn't want to be bothered."

"I don't want to leave it, Harry," Louis snapped back in the same tone he had previously used with Niall. He didn't try any harder gain Niall's attention, though. The younger boy heard him sigh and everyone went back to what they were doing previously.

Eventually, all the couples stood from the table and went on to their different classes. Niall made Liam promise once again to ask Harry what was going on before they separated with a kiss.

Niall walked to his respectful seat in the classroom and Liam walked to his. Charms was one of the few classes the boys didn't sit together, and Niall was grateful for that. Charms was one of his worst classes, and he needed to pay as much attention as possible if he had any hopes of passing the class.

The rest of the day passed with a blur and Niall was sitting at dinner tucked into Liam's side and still ignoring Louis. The older boy had apparently given up on getting Niall's attention and had fallen into the same stubbornness he had. Niall didn't know how to feel about that.

The four of them were quiet as they ate. Niall wanted so badly to speak up and say something about the awkward silence, but he couldn't bring himself to. He just took a sip of his pumpkin juice and looked up at Liam in desperation.

They got up and left dinner finally and for once headed back to Liam's room. "I thought I was going to die," Niall whined as they left the Great Hall. "That was so tense."

"I know, love," Liam agreed with a chuckle. "But now we can go back to my room and cuddle lots and I can explain what exactly is up with Harry and Louis."

Niall nodded and held Liam's hand as he walked first up the stairs to the Gryffindor tower. "I hate stairs," he muttered to himself. His boyfriend chuckled behind him. "Don't laugh at me. These stairs will be the death of me, I swear."

Liam laughed again. "I'll be here to catch you if you fall, darling," he said softly. "I won't let you fall."

"I trust you," Niall promised in the same soft tone. He continued his way up the stairs, gripping tightly to the banister and hoping that he really wouldn't fall.

They both made it up to Liam's room in one piece and Niall fell back onto Liam's bed with a sigh. "Okay, so what's up with Harry and Louis? I want to know if I can talk to them without my head getting chopped off."

"You could have talked to them," Liam chided him. "Even if it was just simple conversation. Louis was upset that you weren't talking to him."

"I was scared my head would be chopped off!" Niall whined. "But tell me what happened! I really would like to know!"

"Harry is just... unsure. He said Louis started to get a bit snappy with him and now he doesn't know quite what to do. He doesn't really know if Louis genuinely likes him, which I think is absolute bullshit, but this is something they just need to work out on their own." Liam shrugged and sat next to Niall on the bed.

"I wish I could help them work it out though," the younger boy said with a pout. "I feel bad just letting them work it out on their own. I feel like a bad friend."

"You aren't a bad friend," Liam soothed him. He ran a hand through his boyfriend's hair and placed a small kiss on his lips. "You're one of the best friends. You should tell Lou what is going on and maybe they'll be able to work it out quickly."

Niall nodded and rolled over in the bed. "I just want to sleep. Can you sing to me?"

"Ni, baby, you can't sleep when half of your body is hanging off the bed. And I'm not a singer, I'm an athlete." Liam helped Niall move himself up on the bed. "Do you want to take off your robes?"

"Yes, please," Niall whispered as he began trying to wiggle off his robes without sitting up from his lying position. He first rolled over and pulled off his robes and then began trying to unbutton his shirt. "Can you help?" he whimpered trying to get the shirt off his shoulders.

Liam chuckled a bit and used his warm fingers to pull the shirt from Niall's shoulders without making him sit up. Then he set to work on getting his boyfriend's pants off, which made Niall giggle. Liam hit his thigh softly. "Do you want to sleep in boxers or a sweatshirt?"

"Boxers will be fine," he mumbled into a pillow. "Now undress and get your ass in bed with me. I want to cuddle and try to convince you to sing to me."

"I can't sing, darling," Liam told him once again with a soft chuckle. He quickly stripped himself down to his boxers and pulled the covers back so he could lie with Niall. "Why do you want me to damage your ears?"

"You are in no way a bad singer, LiLi," Niall scolded him. "Can you sing me that one song? 'Infinity'?"

Liam sighed deeply, but he started to sing anyway, "How many nights does it take to count the stars / that's the time it would take to fix my heart / oh baby I was there for you / all I ever wanted was the truth, yeah yeah / how many nights have you wished someone would stay / lied awake only hoping their okay / I never counted all of mine / if I tried I know it would feel like infinity / infinity / infinity yeah."

Niall was asleep with a smile on his face before Liam finished singing.

-

He really didn't want to have to get up for classes the next morning. Niall was so warm and he was pressed against Liam's chest and he really didn't want to open his eyes.

But at least, Niall was forced to open his eyes. The first thing he saw was Liam's chest, and he kissed it cheekily. Liam let out a little laugh and opened his eyes. "I was waiting for you to wake up," his boyfriend said softly. "Did you sleep well? You didn't have nightmares of my voice, did you?"

"Your voice is beautiful, LiLi," Niall mumbled in his sleepy voice. "You need to stop putting yourself down. Everything about you is beautiful, including your beautiful voice."

Liam buried his nose in Niall's hair and smiled a bit. "Did you know I love you?"

"You might have mentioned it once or twice," Niall said with that cheeky grin. "But I love you too, as it is."

"I don't want to get up," the older boy whispered. "I want to stay here with you all day."

"I do too, love." Niall hesitantly rolled away from Liam's body and nearly groaned at how cold the opposite side of the bed was. "But we have to get up now or we won't get up at all. Tomorrow is Saturday anyway. We can lay here until your Quidditch practice anyway."

"Nah, we'll go back to your room tonight," Liam told him as he tried to move back to where Niall was laying. "The Hufflepuff lot is a lot quieter than the Gryffindors, and I love it."

Niall rolled out of bed unwillingly and walked to the bathroom. "You wanna shower with me this morning? As long as you promise not to get handsy, we can do it. I just want to wake up and stay with you a little bit longer."

Liam nodded eagerly from his place on the bed and rolled out of his place with a groan. He shivered almost immediately. "It's so cold in here."

"I know." The younger of the two nodded. "That's why we're going to get shower and forget about how cold it is out here."

Liam nodded early, grabbed Niall by the waist, and pulled him back into the bathroom. The lilac haired boy laughed loudly as his boyfriend placed a slobbery kiss on his neck. "Let me go! I have to turn on the shower!" he yelled with a laugh.

"Do I really have to let you go?" Liam said with a whine. "I want to hold you like this. Can't we just waddle over to the shower together?"

"You're so clingy in the mornings," Niall said in a judging tone. He turned around quickly and looked at the pout on Liam's lips and immediately backtracked. "No, no, I was joking. I love clingy. Clingy means you care. Clingy is the best."

"Good," Liam said as he nuzzled into his boyfriend's neck. "I'm always clingy. I'm jealous and overprotective, too. I guess those are some fatal flaws of mine."

"Jealous means you care. Protectiveness means you care too. Overprotection I'm not so sure, but I know clingy always means you care."

"You're always very sweet," Liam mumbled. "Can you turn on the shower now? I'm getting way too cold standing here."

"You're going to have to let go of me, then," Niall said with a loud laugh. "I can't turn on the water with your arms around my waist."

Liam huffed behind him but let go of his boyfriend's waist. Niall reached over to the turn the water on and find the perfect temperature before Liam had time to wrap arms around his waist. As soon as the water was on, he was pulled back into his boyfriend's arms. "You know, if you keep doing this, we're never going to make it to class on time."

"Maybe that's why I keep doing it," Liam said cheeky. "I told you I don't want to go to class today."

"You need to stop," the younger boy said finally as he swatted Liam's hands away from his crotch. "Where is your chill? It's so early."

Liam finally backed off with the look of a kicked puppy on his face. "I'll just go get back in bed then," he said softly. "Sorry if I bothered you. I can just shower after you get out then."

"No!" he protested as Liam tried to leave. Niall caught Liam's arm and pulled him into a hug. "No reason to leave. We're still going to shower together. I'm sorry for snapping at you, but you really do need to stop. Clingy is fine, but you're going a bit overboard."

Liam nodded and hugged his boyfriend back. "Okay, I'll restrain myself. I'm sorry for going overboard. Is the water warm now? I want to shower because it's starting to get cold."

Niall stuck his hand underneath the water and nodded when it was the right temperature. "Perfect," he mumbled. "Now let's get in the water and kiss a little bit."

They both stepped into the water and the younger of the two pulled his boyfriend down to his lips. They kissed softly for a moment before Liam pulled Niall closer to his body and slipped a hand into his hair, kissing him hard. Niall moaned a bit into Liam's lips and the other boy's tongue flickered over Niall's for a small second before it was gone.

Niall nearly groaned at the tension between them before finally pulling away. "I'm sorry," he apologized immediately. "I had to stop before I got too worked up. I don't want this to go any further right now."

Liam just nodded and tried to catch his breath himself. "Why don't you turn around and let me do your hair?" he finally asked. "In fact, that isn't even a question. I'm washing your hair for you."

Niall laughed a bit and turned to face the wall of the shower so Liam could wash his hair. "Thank you," he told his boyfriend softly. "You're too nice to me sometimes. You shouldn't have let me off that easy for snapping at you."

"But I love you?" Liam asked in a confused tone. "Why shouldn't I have forgiven you?"

"I don't always deserve to be forgiven so easily. You can hold grudges against me," Niall told him. He stepped back under the water and let the shampoo wash out of his hair. "Just because we love each other doesn't mean we can't have fights sometimes. Fights make us stronger."

"I'll remember that," Liam promised. He kissed Niall's cheek lightly. "I hate fighting with you, though."

Niall couldn't think of an adequate response so he just nodded in agreement and smiled. "Turn around so I can do your do your hair, please? Unless you don't want it washed."

"You can wash it," Liam told him with a small nod. He had to bend down on his knees and faced away from Niall so he wouldn't think inappropriate thoughts. Niall was grateful for that. He washed his boyfriend's hair tenderly and hoped that maybe he was decreasing Liam's stress.

Once he had finished, Liam stood from the ground and rubbed at his knees. He washed the shampoo out of his hair and leaned down to kiss his boyfriend once again. "I really love you," Liam whispered once he had pulled away.

"I really love you, too," Niall whispered back.

They didn't stay in the shower much longer than that. Liam washed Niall and Niall washed Liam, and then the two were stepping out of the shower and wrapping up in the same towel to stay warm.

Niall pulled on his robes unwillingly and sighed when they weren't as warm as his sweats. "I wish we could stay here," he groaned. He looked over at his bed and ached for its warmth, but instead he sat down in a chair and pouted.

Liam, who was tripping trying to put on his own robes, was laughing at his boyfriend. "You're so cute," he said fondly. "Do I frequently remind you how cute you are? Because if I don't, I should be."

"You do," Niall said with a great smile. "You're pretty cute too, though. Do I tell you that enough?"

"No," Liam said cheekily, "but I know I am. I've got something else for you, by the way." He walked over to his trunk and pulled out a rose. "This is nearly the last one. I feel kind of sad that they're ending."

He handed the pink rose over to Niall. The younger examined it for a moment before he smiled brightly. "Is this going to make me emotional?" he asked hesitantly. "I don't know if I want to read this now if I'm going to walk out of this room looking like I've cried."

"Just read it," Liam said fondly. Niall looked down at the note.

> Pink, for sweetness. Do I ever remind you how sweet you are? I should. You're nice to me when I don't deserve it, and you're nice to those people who bullied you even when they really don't deserve it. I ache to be as nice as you, Ni.

"It's not as good as the other ones," Liam mumbled after he watched Niall finish the note. "Sweetness is a bit hard to write for."

"No, it was just as good as the others," Niall assured him. "I love all of your notes. They're all wonderful. You could be an author or something, LiLi."

Liam snorted out a laugh and gave Niall a small hug. "Come on, baby. Let's go. We need to get some food before we have to suffer through class all day."

"At least it's Friday," he said with a bit of happiness in his tone.

"At least it's Friday," Liam agreed.

-

Breakfast with Louis and Harry was less awkward that morning. The couple seemed to be on speaking terms again and for that Niall was grateful. At least it was a bit easier to hold a conversation with one of them without getting a snappish response. Niall was still afraid to have an in depth conversation with Louis, but the older boy was steadily trying to apologize, so Niall put him out of his misery and forgave him.

"Do you think we could go to the library tonight and study a bit?" Louis asked during lunch. "I need to study for Transfiguration and I want to talk a bit, if that's okay?"

"Sure, Lou," he agreed with a nod. "But can we go right after school? That way we can go during Liam's Quidditch practice."

"Too busy with the boyfriend to make time for little old me?" Louis asked with a playful pout on his face. "It's okay. So after classes end, then? You'll meet me in the library?"

"Of course." The younger boy nodded. "See you then, Lou." He then turned his attention back to Liam, who was giving him a big smile.


	20. twenty

After classes were over, Niall bade Liam goodbye with a quick kiss on the lips before he was heading off in the opposite direction to meet Louis in the library. For a quick moment, he wanted to turn back and go with his boyfriend to his Quidditch practice, but he knew that would make him a horrible friend.

He waited just inside the doors of the library because he wasn't exactly sure where Louis wanted to meet him. Niall hoped that he had made it there before Louis had because if he hadn't, then he was probably screwed,

Luckily, a few minutes later, Louis walked in and looked around for Niall quickly. Once he had seen the younger boy, he jogged over to him and grabbed his arm. "Oh, good. I was afraid I would get here first and then I'd never find you. Let's go find a table then so we can."

Louis didn't let go of Niall's arm the entire time they searched for a table. Surprisingly, more people were in the library than usual for a Friday afternoon. Niall assumed some of the younger years were probably still trying to figure out how to manage their homework, even though it was after Christmas.

Once the two were finally alone, Niall looked at his friend. "So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked softly. Louis was sat on the other side of the table, fiddling with his fingers.

"I think Harry and I are okay now," he said finally. "I think. He said he was just a bit unsure, which is understandable. I think he's telling the truth. I hope he's telling the truth."

Niall wanted so badly to reach across the table and give his friend a sympathetic touch, but that wasn't what Louis needed at the moment. Louis needed Harry, and Niall wasn't Harry.

"That's exactly what he told Liam," Niall finally answered after minutes of thinking. "He's telling the truth. He really, really likes you, Lou, if he doesn't love you by now. I know it's true, Lou, and I know how easy it is to think he's lying, but you have to trust him. Otherwise there's no point for you two to be together."

Louis nodded and sighed. "Thank you for listening to me. I don't know what I would do without you, Nialler."

"You listened to me when Liam and I were going through all that trouble," he answered with a shrug. "It's what friends do. I would be a horrible friend if I didn't listen to your problems, and I hate even thinking about being a horrible friend."

"I don't think you could ever be a horrible friend," Louis told him with a soft smile. "I'm really happy that I have you as a friend. It's hard to imagine the fact that we just became friends this year. Why didn't this happen before?"

"Because no one wanted anything to do with me?" Niall laughed loudly. "I'm glad you're my friend now, too. I have no idea what I ever did without you. I guess I barely managed, but I'm so so happy that you, Harry, and Liam are my friends."

"Except Liam is much more than a friend." Louis wiggled his eyebrows as he spoke. "We're friends and we've never had sex."

Niall blushed deeply and looked at his lap. "Liam and I have never had sex. Have you and Harry?"

"What?" the older boy blurted rather loudly. He was immediately shushed by the librarian. Then, much quieter, said, "How have you never had sex? You're two teenage boys! What do you two do at nights, then?"

"Sleep?" Niall asked in an obvious tone. "Study? Do you and Harry ever sleep?"

"We do!" Louis defended himself and his boyfriend. "We spend most of our weekends studying. We just happen to spend most of our nights having sex." For once, his friend had a small blush on his cheeks.

"You two are insane," he said as he shook his head. "I don't see how you have time to fight."

Louis laughed loudly and was shushed by the librarian once more. They were quickly warned that if she had to shush them one more time, then they would be kicked out of the library. Niall nearly laughed at that, but he nodded with a smile on his face and tired to stay quiet.

"So how far have you and Liam gone then?" Louis asked in an eager, soft voice. "Can you tell me that?"

"Why would I tell you that?" Niall gasped dramatically. "I don't kiss and tell!"

"Come on, Nialler!" his older friend whined. "Why can't you tell me? I've told you about Harry and me!"

"Fine, fine," Niall finally relented. "What all do you want to know? Just how far we've gone? We should probably go somewhere else for this conversation. Sophia's minions could be lurking anywhere in this library."

Louis nodded because Niall was right, it would be best not to talk about his and Liam's sex life in a place where anyone could hear it, especially because the couple was the topic of so much gossip lately.

They walked briskly back to Niall's room only because it was closer and Niall absolutely hated going to the dungeons unless absolutely necessary. Louis had grown to hate the dungeons as well over his years at Hogwarts. It was always damp and musky and in general, Louis hated his fellow Slytherins. They were all mean; Louis was just a prankster.

Once they had arrived back in Niall's room, Louis was already giving his younger friend a pouty face and begging eyes. Niall sighed dramatically and fell back on his bed.

"Fine!" he groaned. "I've given him a blowjob, and he's fingered me. That's all we've done, What more do you want from me?"

"Is he good with his fingers?" Louis asked eagerly.

"Is it not weird hearing these things about your friends?" Niall burst. "I mean, how can you ever look at Liam the same if you know about our sex life?"

Louis just shrugged and gave him an innocent look. "You know about me and Haz. Is that weird? If we all know, then it's even!"

Niall gave him a shrug and a nod. "I guess that's fair. As long as you don't start giving out extreme details about your sex life, I think we'll be okay. I've lived this long not knowing exactly what Harry can do with his fingers, and I think I can live the rest of my life as well."

Louis laughed loudly. "Are you sure you don't want to know? He can do some pretty amazing things with his fingers. Like, there was this one time-"

"No," Niall shook his head so rapidly he almost gave himself whiplash. "I'm good not knowing that. I like boundaries, and that certainly crosses a line."

"Okay, okay," Louis surrendered with a laugh. "Isn't it time for Lover Boy to be done with practice? Do you want to go see him?"

Niall grabbed his phone off the nightstand where it had been sitting and checked the time. "Yeah, he's finished." He nodded to himself. "But I think he can handle a half hour without me. I'll see him at dinner. It's no big deal. I can spend more time with my best friend."

Louis laughed a bit and leaned over to hug him. "Good. I think spending time with my best friend. It's nice to do it without boyfriends every once and awhile."

Niall laughed and nodded. "It's nice to be just the two of us for a little while. I love Liam, but just some Niall and Louis time is always good."

The two didn't do very much more than lay on Niall's bed, tell stories, and laugh about old childhood memories. The half hour went by far too quickly and then it was time for the friends to head to dinner and meet up with their boyfriends.

Liam immediately grabbed hold of Niall when he saw him at dinner. "I was worried," he whispered softly. "But then I remembered that you were with Louis and I didn't worry very much anymore. I know Louis would probably beat up anyone who tried to mess with you."

"Probably?" Louis snorted from across the table. "I would. I have no doubt that I would kill anyone who tried to mess with my Nialler."

"Mine," Liam said possessively. He tucked his head into the crook of his boyfriend's neck and placed a kiss there.

"Alright, alright," Niall said with a giggle. "No need to fight over me, boys. There's enough Nialler to go around."

Liam wrapped his arms around Niall's waist and blew a raspberry into his neck, making him laugh loudly once again. He pushed his boyfriend off of him and gave him a quick kiss. "I love you, LiLi, but I'm hungry. You should be too, assuming you went to Quidditch practice. You did go, didn't you?"

"Of course I went!" Liam exclaimed defensively. "I always go to Quidditch practice. What kind of captain would I be if I didn't?"

Niall's cheeks flushed and he looked down at his lap. "Right, sorry. Kinda forget that my boyfriend is the Quidditch captain thing."

"How do you forget?" Louis asked in a confused tone. "That's all he ever talks about!"

"All he ever used to talk about," Harry corrected. "Now all he ever talks about is Niall. Which is fine, because I think all I ever talk about is Louis. But the minute he starts trying to talk about how good you are with you mouth is when I draw the line."

Niall couldn't hold back his laughs this time. "Lou and I just had this conversation earlier. You and Haz have already had it?" He looked at Liam and laughed even harder at how red his face was.

"Don't worry about it," Niall finally told Liam after he was able to breath from laughing so hard. "Louis and I had a conversation about this earlier. Of course, I didn't tell him about how good your fingers are, but." He laughed once again and leaned into Liam's side.

After Niall stopped laughing and the red of Liam's face went away, they were finally able to eat without laughing in the middle of a bite. Niall was still tucked into Liam's side for much of the meal, and that's where he was happiest. He was glad that Liam really didn't mind him being so attached.

They waved goodbye to Louis and Harry after dinner and headed back to Niall's room per usual. Before they had even made it into Niall's room, Liam attached himself to his boyfriend's lips and kissed him hard.

Niall was laughing against his lips and fumbling for the knob to open his door. Liam moved off of his lips for a moment and began kissing down his neck while his boyfriend pushed open the door. He pulled Liam inside and kicked the door closed before he was pushed into it. Niall couldn't hold back his laugh as he buried his head in Liam's neck and sucked a quick love bite there.

Liam was laughing along with Niall as well and trying to keep Niall's lips on his. "Why are you laughing so much?" he asked as he grabbed the back of his boyfriend's neck and kissed him a little harder. "None of this is funny. I just want to kiss you for a little while."

"I have no idea why this is funny." Niall laughed once again. He pulled Liam over to his bed and fell back onto it, pulling his boyfriend down with him. "Now that I'm comfortable, c'mere and kiss me."

Liam crawled between Niall's legs and made himself comfortable there. The younger quickly wrapped his legs around his boyfriend's waist to keep him there and brought his lips up to his. He smiled happily against Niall's lips and kissed him a little harder.

Niall opened his mouth slightly and allowed Liam to slip his tongue in his mouth for only a second. Liam's groan was a signal for him to lay his head back down on the pillow and laugh. Liam just groaned again and kissed down his boyfriend's jawline.

"Stop laughing at me," Liam all but growled. "I'm trying to be sexy. Let me be sexy." He sucked a quick mark on Niall's jaw and the younger laughed again.

"I don't know why I'm laughing. This isn't funny and you are incredibly sexy. I'm so happy to have a sexy boyfriend. Except when all the girls stare at you. Then I get a little jealous," Niall rambled on before Liam silenced him with yet another kiss.

They kissed for another few minutes before Liam rolled off and laid on the bed next to Niall. "I was going to kiss you some more, but you wouldn't stop pouting." The older boy had the most adorable pout on his face.

"I'm sorry for laughing," Niall apologized sincerely. "I have no idea why I was laughing. I read something about when you really love someone you can laugh at even the most intimate of times. I"m really happy that I can laugh with you all the time."

Liam rolled back over and pulled Niall into his chest. "In that case, I really love you," he said softly. "I mean, I already loved you, but that made me love you even more, if that was even possible. I didn't think it was."

Niall giggled a bit and rolled over so he could face Liam. "You're warm," was all he said. He waited another moment before speaking again. "I need a shower. I probably stink."

Liam shook his head against the pillows. "Not at all. You smell kind of like home. I love how you smell."

"That's a little weird," The younger boy laughed. "But fine, I won't shower. I'll just go to sleep right now, then."

"But it's only like seven o'clock!" Liam whined like a small child. "How are you tired? It feels like it's still the middle of the day!"

"Because I'm not high off adrenaline," Niall sassed back. "You had Quidditch practice. I sat in the library with Lou. I am incredibly sleepy. If you're still hyper, then you could sing me to sleep again."

Liam groaned softly in his boyfriend's ear. "I thought I had killed you with my horrible singing. I will never, ever sing you to sleep again. It was terrifying."

Niall moved his hand from its position against his chest and moved it up to Liam's face. "I don't understand why you think you sound so horribly. You sound beautiful. You need to stop feeling so down on yourself, babe. I'd love you even if you sang horribly, which you don't."

Liam's cheeks warmed a bit and his eyes crinkled as he smiled. "I didn't think I could love you anymore, but now I know I can. God, sometimes it feels like I might explode from how much I love you."

"Please don't explode." Niall chuckled uneasily. "I really really don't want you to explode. I like you a little bit too much."

"I would never explode, love," Liam said softly. He leaned his head down a bit and kissed Niall's forehead. "Go to sleep, baby. I'll be here when you wake up."

Niall nodded against Liam's chest and it was only a few minutes of silence before he was asleep.

-

He loved Liam. He really, really loved Liam. Niall loved the way he was always warm when he woke up and how Liam's arm never moved from around his waist. For some reason, Liam always smiled in his sleep to. Niall briefly wondered if it could possibly be because of him. He hoped it was.

Niall was so, so happy it was Saturday. He could lay in bed all day if it wasn't for Liam's Quidditch practice. At least they could lay there together until Liam was forced to get up for his captain's duties.

It was as if Liam could hear Niall thinking about him because he rolled over and hugged Niall a little bit tighter. The younger smiled happily and cuddled into Liam's chest as he fell back asleep.

-

The next time Niall awoke, Liam was awake too and humming some song that Niall had never heard before. He hummed along happily and snuggled into Liam's chest.

"I didn't think you could get any closer," Liam said as he chuckled a little bit. "And yet you did. I don't mind, though. You're warm."

"You're warm too," Niall mumbled back. "I really, really love you, Leemo."

"I really, really love you, too, Ni," Liam whispered sweetly. "I want to lay here forever with you."

"Then we can do it," Niall said bluntly. "We can just lay here forever. We'd probably start to stink though."

"Maybe we don't need to lay here forever then." Liam wrinkled his nose. "In fact, we should probably get up and brush our teeth and go to breakfast before my stomach eats itself."

Niall giggled cutely and rolled over away from Liam. He groaned at the coldness of the bed and shivered as his feet touched the cold ground. "Bad idea," he said softly. "It's cold. Come cuddle me while I brush my teeth?"

Liam laughed a little too loudly for the time of morning it was and crawled out of the bed right behind Niall. "Ow, okay, it is cold. Maybe we should have worn socks or more clothes to bed at the least."

Niall just nodded and tried to keep his teeth from chattering as he walked quickly to the bathroom. "Why can't Hogwarts have heated floors?" he groaned.

"What are heated floors?" Liam asked curiously. "Are those an actual thing?"

Niall laughed a bit and gave Liam a soft look. "Of course those are an actual thing. But heating from other sources than fire is also a Muggle thing, so I doubt heating systems and heated floors will exist before we leave here."

"I'm still confused about heated floors." Liam had the most adorable confused face. Niall reached up and pinched his cheeks.

"Aw, babes," Niall cooed. "They aren't that confusing. Don't worry."

The couple brushed their teeth together happily, each hip-bumping each other out of the way when it was time to spit out the toothpaste. They were both constantly laughing, and Niall couldn't think of a moment that he had ever been happier.

They each slid on a hoodie of Liam's and left the room to head down to breakfast. Niall and Liam sat down as usual at the Hufflepuff table and shared a smile with each other when they noticed that Louis and Harry were chatting civilly, each with slight smiles on their faces.

Niall sighed happily and leaned into Liam's shoulder. "I really love you," he whispered softly. His eyes were trained on Louis and Harry, though, instead of Liam. "I'm really glad they made up."

"I am too," Liam mumbled back. "And I love you, too, baby."

Niall hugged Liam tightly and smiled up at him. "Can we stay here forever?"

Liam had the biggest smile on his face. "Of course."


	21. epilogue

Niall woke up late and alone on the last day before summer holiday. He was almost sure that he hadn't gone to sleep alone, but he was so tired at the moment he didn't care. He had packed all of his things with the help of his boyfriend the night before hand, all he had to do was put away the clothes he was wearing and drag his trunk down to the Great Hall so it would be taken to the train.

He found a sweatshirt laying over this bed post that may have been his or Liam's, but he still slipped it over his head, unconcerned. It didn't matter whose it was anyway. Liam would still coo over his bed head and big sweatshirt anyway.

He brushed his teeth with the few things he had left out the night before and put them safely away in his trunk. Niall ran through his mental checklist once more and walked throughout his room to make sure that he hadn't left anything.

When Niall was satisfied that he hadn't left anything lying around his room, he slipped his phone into his pocket and dragged his trunk the best he could out of his room and through the common room.

Moments like these were the times he could really use Liam or his friends around. His trunk was heavy and Niall was not very strong himself, so dragging his trunk around was rather difficult. Perrie and her friends weren't around either, so Niall was left to himself.

Dragging the trunk down the hall was a lot more work than Niall liked to put in. He was sweating before he was halfway to the Great Hall. The corridor was nearly empty, anyway, and no one was around to help him. Niall continued to drag his trunk down the hall and wished desperately that he had a normal suitcase with wheels.

Finally, Niall finished his painful trek to the Great Hall and pulled his trunk just inside the door. A house elf was waiting there to take his trunk out to the train. He gave it over gratefully and went to go find his friends,

They were all sitting at the end of the Hufflepuff table as always. Liam was sitting at the seat next to the end, saving that seat for Niall. He stood there happily for a minute, admiring his boyfriend. Liam was laughing very hard at something Louis had said. His eyes were all crinkled and his nose was too, and Niall was sure that it was his best face.

After a minute of observing Liam, Niall finally pushed off the wall and walked over to the table so he could eat. He slid down next to his boyfriend and gave him a small kiss before he grabbed a plate and began to fill it without a word.

Liam gave him the brightest smile and gave him his own kiss. "Hello, love," he greeted softly. "I'm sorry I left early this morning. I just needed to finish packing my things."

Niall laughed a bit and sighed happily. "That's why I told you to do it the night before, babe, but you didn't listen. You said you would just finish things later and that you wanted to kiss and cuddle and go to sleep."

"And I did," Liam said firmly. "And I had lots of fun. The only thing I regret was having to pry myself away from you this morning."

It was Niall's turn to pout. "I regret you leaving too. It took me like ten minutes to drag my trunk in here. It was heavy and no one even bothered to offer to help me."

"Aw, baby," Liam cooed. He gave his boyfriend a side hug and kissed his forehead. "And now I really wish I had stayed."

The table all went back to their food, eating quickly and quietly. Niall knew the others were happy and eager to get back to their homes, and while he wanted to see his family, he wasn't prepared for all the questions that would come with it.

"What's got you so distracted?" Liam asked softly. By then, nearly everyone had finished their food and was waiting for the call to go to the train. Niall was staring off into space and trying to ignore the thought of seeing his family in a few short hours.

"Nothing," Niall answered absentmindedly. "Are you excited to see your family? Will you sisters be there?"

Liam immediately sent off chattering about his family and how excited he was to see them, which was exactly what Niall wished to do. He wanted to distract Liam so maybe he wouldn't see that Niall was not ready for this school year to end. He was afraid that the end of the year would be the end of Liam and him.

His eyes were trained on Liam as he rattled off all his favorite things about being home for the holidays. He talked about how he was allowed once a month to go into the Muggle world for candy and vacation purposes. Liam told him about how his favorite thing to do was go surfing and eat that Muggle chocolate cake that his mother rarely made.

"I'm glad you're so excited, love," Niall said truthfully. "I bet you'll have the greatest holiday."

"And what are you going to be doing?" Liam asked eagerly. "Anything exciting?"

Niall just shook his head and sighed. "Probably just playing some video games and eating a lot of shit. That's all I ever do over holiday. We haven't gone anywhere since Greg left home."

"That's sad," Liam said with a frown. "Why don't you ever go anywhere? You don't even go to the ocean?"

"No." Niall shook his head sadly. He remembered those times when his family used to go to the ocean and trips back to Ireland, but they all stopped when Greg went off to college. "It's not that bad, really. Normally dad will welcome me home with the new FIFA game and I spend most of my holiday beating him at that." He paused at Liam's confused pout. "Sorry, babe, I forgot." He pinched the older boy's cheeks in affection.

"Did you know I still love you even when I have no idea what you're talking about?" Liam asked cheekily. Louis groaned from across the table.

"Could you two please stop being so cute together?" he groaned. "Haz and I can never live up to your cuteness. It is humiliating."

"It isn't humiliating," Niall said with a giggle. "You two are cute in your very own way. You just aren't Niam cute."

"Who is Niam?" Liam asked cutely. His nose was scrunched up and he had his "confused face."

"That's us, babe," Niall told him with another laugh. "We're Niam. It's a combination of our names."

Liam was still so obviously confused. "But why do you need to combine our names. What is the use of that?"

"Just because it's fun, love," Niall cooed. "It's called a ship name. People use it when they think that we're a cute couple, which we obviously are."

Liam's face steadily went from confused to fond. "Oh. Oh, that's very cute. We are cute, aren't we?" The older boy giggled. "I love you. I really, really love you."

"I love you too, LiLi," Niall answered softly. He leaned up and placed a small kiss on his boyfriend's lips. "You're cute."

"No, you're cute," Liam said in a giggly tone back. He poked Niall's nose softly with his index finger.

"Oh, for God's sake!" Harry groaned this time. "You're both positively adorable, but Louis is even more adorable." And with that, he wrapped a hand around the back of Louis' neck and pulled him in for a deep kiss.

Niall moved past his shock of the two kissing quickly and whistled loudly. "Finally! I've been waiting for the two of you to try and show us up. Why did you wait until the last day of school?"

Louis pulled away with bright red cheeks and looked at his hands in his lap. "I don't know," he said softly. The sound shocked Niall. Louis was never quiet. Louis could never be described as quiet. "Why did you do that, Haz?"

Harry looked shocked for a moment before he stuttered out, "Because I fucking love you?" It sounded more like a question than an answer to Louis' previous question. "I know I shouldn't be doing this here or now, but I really love you, Lou."

Louis' face was utterly shocked, and despite the fact that he was still in the Great Hall full of purebloods, Niall pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of the moment: Harry's loving face and Louis' shocked one.

"I love you, too," Louis whispered back. This time, he was the one to wrap a hand around the back of Harry's neck and pulled him down so their lips touched.

Niall leaned against Liam's shoulder and smiled at their friends. "I'm really glad they worked things out. They're cute together," he commented softly.

"They are," Liam agreed. His voice was soft enough to not disturb the couple in front of them. "I think we're cuter, though."

"We are," Niall agreed. He wanted to lean up and kiss his own boyfriend, but Niall told himself that he would let his friends shine. He watched them kiss deeply for a moment. Niall's heart nearly jumped with joy out of happiness for Louis and Harry. They had developed so much as a couple, and he felt like a proud mother. He resisted the urge to coo at them and instead stayed quiet by Liam's side.

Niall hated the thought of leaving Hogwarts this year. So much had happened, he was scared that the moment he left it would all disappear. His relationship with Liam and his friendship with Louis and Harry felt so fragile. If he left them alone until September, things might just go back to the way they were before.

He looked up at Liam with a new sense of fear and whispered, "You'll visit over the summer, right? You won't leave me all alone?"

"Of course," Liam said in an obvious tone. "Why would you even assume I wouldn't? And you can come visit me, too. Maybe we can go to the beach. I really want you to meet my sisters."

Despite what Liam was telling him, Niall was still worried. "You won't meet anyone else? Not even some pretty brunette girl with long legs and huge boobs? You wouldn't even think about her if she's absolutely perfect?"

Liam's face turned into a frown and he stood up from the table. He led Niall out into the hall and pulled him into his arms. "Where is all this coming from, baby? Why are you so scared?"

Niall didn't answer for a moment, only shoving his head into Liam's chest and holding his breath to keep from bursting into tears. "I don't know," he says softly. "I'm scared that as soon as we leave school you're just going to forget this even happened and Louis and Harry will forget we're friends and then next year I'll be alone." Tears leaked out of his eyes. "I can't be alone again, Li."

"Niall," Liam said firmly. The only reason he looked up was because Liam used his full name. Liam never called him by his name. "Don't think that. Don't think that we're going to break up just because it's summer holiday. I love you so much. I couldn't just throw you away. Louis and Harry wouldn't be able to either. You're irreplaceable, baby. I'm sorry if I made you think I would just forget about you."

Niall shook his head and tucked himself back into his boyfriend's chest. "Just me being insecure, I guess. But you will visit over the summer?"

"Of course," Liam responded without hesitation. "And you'll have to come to my house at some point because I want you to meet my parents. And maybe you can convince them to get me one of those text things? So we can talk more."

He looked up to see Liam wearing his confused face once again. It was his most adorable face. "Of course," he answered softly.

The couple looked down the hall to see Professor Mcgonagall yelling out that it was time to board the train.

"And now we go home," Liam said softly. "We'll talk constantly, I promise. And I'm coming to see you. I hope you don't mind."

"I don't mind." Niall placed a small kiss in the center of Liam's chest, over his heart. "I love you."

"I love you too, Ni," Liam replied sincerely.

The pair waited for Harry and Louis to come out of the Great Hall, and the four of them walked to the train slowly, anxious to leave Hogwarts behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and this is it! i hope you guys enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> it's been a while! i hope you guys love this as much as i do! it isn't a relatively new work, but this is the first time i've posted it anywhere other than my wattpad. if you want to read my new works as soon as i post them, you can check out my wattpad: niamsmuffin


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